


Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Biweekly Killing AU

by sans8642



Series: Danganronpa Biweekly Killing. [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Additonal Tags will be added when needed, Chance of accidental OOC, F/M, I'M SORRY IF YOUR FAVOURITE DIES EARLY ON, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21884725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sans8642/pseuds/sans8642
Summary: Hajime Hinata arrives at Hope's Peak Academy, only to find he's on a island now, only to find that the island and everyone on it is in a killing game, to make matters worse, there's no outliving the game this time, two weeks everyone dies.But there is some sort of Hope within all this despair, he has the power to get close to one of the other students and help them out to become his assistant or maybe even more.Danganronpa 2 Alternate AU. Spoiler Tags will be taken out of the tags and this will assume you've at least seen the games and know the major twists and turns.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Koizumi Mahiru
Series: Danganronpa Biweekly Killing. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576489
Comments: 21
Kudos: 53





	1. Day 1: Tropical Paradise with a storm incoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used this site so much and yet I still mess up when it comes to the chapter and work notes, kind of lame of me honestly...

Hope’s Peak Academy. What is there to say about this 5 story building that people don’t know. It’s where all the best students of their craft go in order to change the world. They’re called Ultimates and since I’m here, I know I’m one too. 

My name is Hajime Hinata and I’m the Ultimate… Well, that’s not important, it’s entirely possible I forgot about it in my excitement, it’s a big day for me after all. Speaking off, what am I waiting for, I’ve got a whole new life ahead of me. I could only take one step before falling unconscious. 

Consciousness is returning to my body at least, but what the heck happened? Suppose I should be ready for anything, I’ve heard classes in this school can get weird. Although being in a void is something I’d never expect from something like this. At least there’s a door, let’s go in there, not like this can get any weirder.

Turning the handle, I should really watch what I say, because things just got stranger. There were 15 other students there, all of different shapes and sizes, either panicking or bored out of their minds. The largest one then looked down on me.

“Hmph, so then you’re the sixteenth student, hidden from us for quite some time. Considering the amount of chairs we have, it seems we’re all here. So now what?” As the large(as in both height and width) man finished his sentence, a noise came out from the front desk. 

The class turned their attention to it, and a plush rabbit came out. Silence was the only reaction, I can only assume they were as dumbfounded as I was. “Hello everyone! I am Usami, your teacher for this school trip!” The thing that called itself Usami was a pink rabbit, wearing a tiara and dress combo, all finished with a magic wand. If the wand was activated and emitting drugs or something, I would not be surprised.

The biggest man then spoke up, “School Trip?”

“Hold on, we’re being taught by a rabbit? I don’t really know how one of those would help us.” Another student spoke up, female I presume, but since my eyes were fixed on the rabbit, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

Nevertheless, the rabbit continued on. “Yep! This school trip is designed to make you all friends!” It made some sort of smooshed face, which only served to add to the weirdness.

“Hold on, we all came here through a void, at least that’s what I’m getting from this? Are we supposed to have some sort of an escape room or something? If so, all you boys better step up to help out.” That was a firm voice, and apart from that last comment, she did raise a good point.

“E-Escape? But you’ve only just got here…” All of a sudden, the rabbit looked dejected, but quickly changed her tune. “Well, how about I convince you to stay with a magic trick?” It waved its wand, starting a chant or something that I couldn’t even think of understanding. “Three, two, one and ta-dah!” All of a sudden the walls came apart, revealing a beach. A beautiful beach? B-But, we were just… “This is where you’ll be staying for your two week holiday! Be sure to try and become as close friends as possible!” The rabbit giggled as if nothing was wrong.

My head is feeling pretty light, and my vision is blurring… I think I’m just going to take a nap…

H-How long was I out… That was a weird dream, seeing a rabbit in a void, then going to a beach. The sea is peaceful to listen to, honestly, this feels like bliss…

Wait, the sea? That doesn’t sound right. “Hey, are you OK?” A male voice called out to me. I opened my eyes, to see the world blurred, which thankfully fixed itself to reveal a man with pure white hair looming over me. “You were out pretty bad, are you going to be OK?”

I pressed my hand on my head as I pulled myself up and slightly away. “No. I’m going insane, seeing rabbits and thinking I’m on a beach…” All this did was give the unsympathetic boy a laugh.

“Well, I suppose this situation we’re all in is a little weird compared to what you’d be used to. Anyway, I guess I’ll introduce myself, my name’s Nagito Komaeda and my pathetic excuse for a talent is the Ultimate Lucky Student. How about you?” I’m surprised Nagito was able to change the conversation so quickly, as if nothing about this was insane. Looking closer at him, he was wearing a green hoodie with a white top, but outside of his hair and very unneat clothes, there wasn’t really anything too off with him visually.

But I suppose I should introduce myself as well. “My name’s Hajime Hinata and I’m the... “ I stopped after my short introduction. What exactly is my talent? It’s not like a white shirt with a green tie exactly screams out a certain talent. I guess I have to be honest. “I don’t know…” 

Nagito simply looked at me and smiled. “Well, I’m sure it’s a great talent, better than my worthless one anyway.” Even though he’s putting himself down, he’s still smiling. Either he enjoys putting himself down, or he just has awful self-esteem. “Hey, don’t worry about me, I only got in here due to a lottery, I don’t deserve to be in your presence.” 

Ignoring his smiling self-deprecation, I think we should do something. “Hey, should we go meet the other students?” 

“That’s a wonderful idea, let’s get going.” He gave me a smile and we both walked onwards. The first place we went over to was an airport.

There were two students, male and female and both of them were disgruntled, although they looked towards me. 

“Hey hey, you’re up! What’s up, man?” 

“Seriously? You just completely change topics after someone else arrives? How on Earth are you supposed to help anyone else out, or be taken seriously? Although with your look, nobody could take you with any amount of seriousness.” 

“Hey, come on! I just don’t want to deal with an engineless aeroplane! An aeroplane without an engine is just a useless husk!” He and the girl argued until he turned towards us in a relaxed manner. “Don’t mind her, she’s just bossy. My name’s Kazuichi Soda, the Ultimate Mechanic.” Kazuichi Soda was dressed in an odd manner. Pink hair, a cap and a yellow jumpsuit, so I would say odd. But he was relaxed and had a big grin on his face. 

This was a complete contrast to the other student, who outside of red hair, wore a simple green dress, a tie and a camera around her. “Oh, you’re the person who fainted, right? Well, you’re going to have to show you’re better than that if we want to get out of this place. My name’s Mahiru Koizumi, Ultimate Photographer.” She sighed loudly and was pretty rude, but I can totally understand why she’d be in a bad mood, after all, we’re all in this situation. After giving out my own introduction we walked away, having nothing else to do in the area. 

I quickly turned to Nagito. “Why didn’t you introduce yourself?” He simply laughed.

“Well, I don’t deserve a private introduction, that’s why!” I rolled my eyes at his words, but I’m going to guess everyone else introduced themselves while I was unconscious.

The next location we arrived at was a farm, with two more students, not interacting with each other. I walked up, and the male came up to us. He was certainly a unique design, wearing a big purple scarf and a scar, but normal clothes otherwise. “Hi, who are you?” I decided to speak up, just to make some sort of conversation. 

This shocked him. “W-What courage to speak to the The Supreme Overlord of Ice without any fear, it seems you’re greater than your pathetic looks entail mere mortal.” Before I could inject to his loud overbearing point, he did a pose, letting hamsters out. “I am Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Animal Breeder and these creatures are the Four Dark Devas of Destruction!” He cackled all of this out, which weirded me out. 

“Ugh, will you shut up, I’m trying to play with Mr. Ants!” We turned to the female, who indeed was playing with ants. I leaned down in order to get a closer look.

I can’t exactly tell what she’s doing, so maybe she’ll give me some answers. “So, who are you and what are you doing?” 

She then turned into a pout. “Sheesh, you’re so rude, you could have said please. But whatever, my name’s Hiyoko Saonji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, and I’m playing with Mr. Ants, like I said.” She regained her happiness pretty quickly, although she was pretty rude. 

She’s still not answering my question, so I’ll just be more direct. “So, what are you doing with Mr. Ants?” 

“Playing a squishing game! Squish~” Her smile remained, but as I closed into her fingers, I cringed. I got up and walked away, mostly out of disgust, although I heard Gundham in shock and horror from this, guess he cares for all animals. 

Footsteps came from behind me, as I turned to see Nagito. “Hey, I think she made a bad first impression with you, but I’m sure she’s nice.” I simply kept walking. 

The next place I ended up being was at a mall or mart. I couldn’t tell thanks to the weird looking letters.

There were three more people here, all having a look at the items around. I walked over to the first person a saw, who was a busty woman with a full body blue gymnastics underneath simple school clothes, drooling over the food. “Man, there’s so much here…” We stood in silence as it dawned on me she didn’t even notice my existence. 

Realising my mistake, I pushed onwards. “Err, hi.” 

She turned to look at me with disinterest. “Hey, you’re that Harrison guy, right?”

“Hajime.”

“Ah, OK. Well, my name’s Akane Owari. I’m the Ultimate Gymnast. Nice to meat you.” She gave me a smile before returning to her food situation. Guess she has a one track mind. I simply walked away.

The next person I found was another girl, this one covered in bandages. She was clearly scared and when she looked at me she got even more scared. “I-I’m sorry, did you want to look at these things, I’ll get out of your way!” 

The woman is almost crying at this point, this isn’t good! “Wait, no I just wanted to introduce myself!” I ended up flapping my arms around like crazy, trying to calm down the situation, and most likely failing, as she wasn’t changing her tune.

“Aaahhh! Y-You just wanted to do that? God I’m so useless, why am I like this. I-If it’ll make you not hate me, then I’ll introduce myself, I’m Mikan Tsumiki, the U-Ultimate Nurse!” Sadly, my words only made her feel worse, she’s like Nagito with her self-deprecation, but somehow even worse about it.

“H-Hey, don’t worry about it OK? You clearly haven’t given me a reason to hate you, so let’s just calm down, OK?” 

“O-OK…” She then quietly walked away, and I couldn’t help but feel awful…

“Man, I can’t tell who feels worse about themselves, you or Mikan.” 

Again, the Ultimate Lucky Student kept his smile on his face, “Well, I can’t quite say either, but I definitely deserve to feel like this more than she does.” My attempt at lighting my own mood fell flat on his face. 

But there’s still one other student to look at. This man was buff. Heck, calling him buff would be a bluff, he’s just that buff. Unlike the other two he noticed us right away, which was a nice change of pace. “HOW ARE YOU TWO TODAY!” He was as loud as he was buff, I noticed Nagito covering his ears, so the Ultimate Lucky Student clearly knew what was about to happen, which is nice for him. “It’s very nice to meet you both, I’m NEKOMARU NIDAI, THE ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER AND I’VE GOT TO SHITTT!” He ran off at the speed of sound, and I couldn’t say anything. 

“Yeah, he has tells for when he’s going to open his mouth. Or maybe I’m just lucky. Either way, you’ve got to be careful.”

This meant we just walked off for now. We were surprised to find no one at our next and last location, which was the hotel of the area.

This caused Usami to pop up. “Hello! I’m sorry, I know this is the last area for you to explore and you haven’t found everyone yet, that’s because they’re either in their rooms or in the lobby and restaurant area… I’ll try to get them out for you though!” She then left us to our goal as the two of us walked towards the hotel lobby. 

There we located two girls playing on an arcade machine. One of them was a pink haired girl, with a pixel spaceship hairpin and green jacket to go over her white shirt, while the other one had black hair with horn accessories, a pink scarf and mismatched tights with holes in them. I quietly walked up to them, trying not to disturb them so much, but instead to just watch and hope they’d notice me.

Thankfully the horned girl noticed me and turned to me. “Hello! Do you want to play, because right now you can’t, for Ibuki is in the middle of her game.” So her name is Ibuki then, but even so, she was trying and failing to focus on me and her game at once, so I better make this quick. 

“Hey, so could you introduce yourselves, please?”    
“OK, my name is Ib-uki Mi-oda and Ibuki is the Ultimate Musician! Since Chiaki’s not introducing herself, I’ll help her out! She’s Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer. She can get so focused on a game she forgets to breathe, like she’s doing right now!” The girl pointed at Chiaki, who didn’t seem to be breathing. 

Alarm bells dinged their toll, as I knew how bad that was. “That sounds incredibly unhealthy!” 

“Nah, she’s fine! She usually beats her opponents before she dies anyway.” Ibuki was pretty joyful, so I let the two got back to their game and I figured I’d just let them do it, if nothing else it’ll give Chiaki a chance to breathe. 

The last place that we needed to visit was a restaurant, which admittedly, looked really nice. The biggest man I saw earlier was there. Maybe I should go over and say hi. 

He’s eating a lot of food, which I can’t say is healthy. “Hey, how are you?” 

He looked up to me and started to speak. “Hmph, Byakuya Togami, Ultimate  Affluent Progeny . “ He went right back to eating. His mouth was full to the brim, and the way he dug into his food seriously made his otherwise nice black suits and trousers seem like an afterthought to him, but at least his blond hair was safe

“I-I need help, my loins are poisoned!” 

“O-oh no! Don’t worry, I’ll get the poison out!” 

My head swung to the direction the voice came from. There was a short chef person and an elegant girl in a dress, speaking in that order. “Nope! You do not want to do that.”

“But he’s poisoned right?”

“He’s lying.” The small chef person started to sweat at my deadpan reaction.

“W-Well, I might not be. Anyway, you’re the hunk of meat that fell unconscious right? Might have missed my chance with you right there, but I’m Teruteru Hanamura the Ultimate Chef.” I’m very creeped out by this tiny man, who sounds a little pleased with himself.

“But doesn’t it say ‘Ultimate Cook?’” The girl counted his point which caused him to sweat a little bit more.

“Well, technically yes, but Chef sounds more classy wouldn’t you say?” Everyone in the room just shrugged at his comment. 

I then just turned to the girl. “So, who are you?”

She simply smiled. “My name is Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” I stood shocked. I’m speaking to a princess and I didn’t even realise it. Looking at her, she fits the bill of a princess very well, with a necklace, green dress, long white hair and a red tie. She started to look a little nervous. “Please don’t treat me any differently just because I’m a princess! I have more to me than just that, plus I just want to be me for now…” it’s a lot to take in, but eventually I smiled at her.

“Yeah, I promise to do that. Don’t worry about it Sonia.” 

This caused another smile to appear on her face, I can see how she’d be popular, even without her talent. “Thank you, Hajime. I hope to get some more time to meet with you later.” I nodded in response as I left.

“Wow, I’m in the same school as a princess… and a pervert…” 

“Well, even if he has undesirable qualities, the mere fact that he’s an Ultimate means that he is important.” Nagito’s response made me go quiet. Is that all there is to it? 

Going to the lobby, I saw two more people. One short male and one tall female. The tall one was closer and so I went over to go and say my introductions. She wore mostly a black outfit with her white hair and her red bow being the standouts. She quickly noticed me coming up to talk with her, so she did the same to me.

She folded her arms as soon as she got to me and opened her mouth. “My name is Peko Pekoyama. Ultimate Swordswoman.” I didn’t get a sense of emotion from her voice, but I guess that makes sense, you’ve got to be calm in battle otherwise you’ll lose.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Peko, I guess…”

I then stood there, without much to say. “Don’t worry about making friends with everyone or talking to everyone. Things like this take time to adjust to.” She then walked off, not exactly sure where to though. 

But that just leaves one more person to check out! 

The person I went to talk to last was short, having an almost baby-like hair style and a really nice black suit on. “Hi, how are you?”

This got a reaction that I didn’t expect. “This is what I was fucking disturbed for, what a waste. My name’s Fuyuhiko Kuzuruyu, nice to fucking met you or whatever.” He then walked off. Well that was certainly pleasant wasn’t it. 

Let’s see, is that everyone? I’ve counted sixteen including myself, so that checks out. 

Then a TV, that I just noticed, started to flicker on. “Alright, so now everyone’s gotten to know each other, so let’s head to the beach!” The rabbit popped up on there and after she was done the screens shut off.

I saw people going there, so I guess we should as well. Nagito nodded and we walked off to the beach where everyone was gathering.

Once everyone got there, the rabbit popped up once again. “Alright everyone, as a reward for getting along, you all get to play in the ocean! I’ve placed some swimsuits in each of your rooms, so go and have some fun!” Once again Usami left us, but everyone just went with it? Does nobody see anything wrong with this? 

Evidently not, as all but three others seemed to be wearing swimming costumes and in the sea now. Turning around, I saw Chiaki, Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko as the only three who didn’t decide to swim. Chiaki seemed to notice this fact as well. “Why didn’t you guys go swimming?” Her question definitely came off as an innocent one, as if a child wondering why their parents did or didn’t do something.

“Why didn’t you?” A simple yawn answered that one for me. 

I noticed that Hiyoko was there as well. I didn’t really acknowledge her existence, but she seemed like she wanted to be noticed. “Well, I kind of just want to get information to get under people’s skin.” I could only sigh at this. Fuyuhiko didn’t speak up.

I just ended up watching everyone, just having fun. After a while, Chiaki had fallen asleep and Hiyoko went over to prank people and I presume that Fuyuhiko left the area. Mahiru came up to me and gave me a camera. “If you’re just going to stand there, then why not help us out a bit, everyone can take a photo, right?” I just nodded before she went back. She didn’t let anyone else know about it, guessing she wants to moment to be as real as possible? My hands are shaking, but I just took the photo anyway. Looking at the product of my picture taking, Hiyoko was pranking Teruteru, Chiaki was sleeping to Gundhan’s shock. Mahiru and Mikan were chatting, and everyone else was in the sea. A sea of envy clawed into my skin, why can’t I be just like them, not caring about anything and just having a good time in the sea…

Suddenly, the sky darkened, to the shock of everyone there. What made the situation weirder was the screen came down. “BWAHAHAHAHA, glad to see you’re all having a wonderful time! Anyway, I’m not sure if you know this, but this place has 5 big islands and one small one, with a bridge to the small one in place for all 5 of these stinking lands. Please head to the park in the middle of Jabberwock Island for the best announcement of your lives!”

The voice was ominous for sure, but the rabbit seemed the most worried. “Oh no. Oh god please no. E-Everyone, just head there for now and I’ll try to get this sorted out…” It seemed the voice changed but it disappeared for now. Everyone was grumbling as they walked off to the changing rooms, even those who had not gotten changed, for some reason. 

I just went to the big bridge and walked across it, after placing the camera down for Mahiru, as she forgot to ask me for it back, therefore having the park all to myself. It was a simple park benches and stuff, the main standout being a statue in the middle of the park, which was some ungodly combination of a horse, snake, tiger, eagle and gorilla. 

Well, if there’s no one here, there’s no shame in getting things off my chest, right? I took a deep breath and started to shout. “Of course! I get to the place of my dreams and what happens, I get transported to a goddamn island without my consent! Everyone else is seemingly fine with it, but I can’t be? Why the hell not? Is it that they’re just able to overlook the fact that there is a magic rabbit, or that we don’t know how we got here? How do you even overlook something like that? I just wanted to be in a normal class, learning with people that I’m going to be able to befriend in the future, but instead I’m dragged out here. What is my luck…” I turned around as I was catching my breath to find everyone else just standing there, most likely not knowing how to react to my outburst. It certainly made us all quiet, for a couple of seconds that is.

The rabbit appeared, but a voice that wasn’t the rabbit also spoke up. “BWAHAHAHAHA, oh what joy it is to have a new class for me to play with! Welcome one and all!” Then a red and white plush bear appeared in a similar manner to the rabbit appeared. 

“N-No, so that was true.” The rabbit spoke up, fear within her voice. “Get out of here, now!” 

“And ruin the fun, nah?”

“Well I’m the teacher and so I’ll get you out by force! Abra-Kadabra… Ala-“

Before the rabbit could finish, the bear attacked. “Oh no you don’t, I’m the teacher here now!” This caused a giant puff cloud to appear, as if it was a cartoon, with the grunts and pained sounds of the two brawling it out emitted constantly, until it cleared, revealing that the bear won, with the rabbit upside down in defeat. “And now you know why I’m always the best! Monokuma the headmaster stands supreme again! For my prize, I think I deserve a new little sister!” The whole audience was silent with confusion as Monokuma then attacked again. 

“Wah-Hey what are you-?”

“Oh be quiet Usami, or should I call you Monomi, yeah that sounds much better!” The pink rabbit was now wearing a diaper, and was in stunned silence. “Anyway, I’m making some small adjustments to your two week trip. It’s now a killing game, that will end in two weeks!” The bear stood proudly as everyone else was mortified. 

“Hmph, as if we’ll do that, you have no way of making us do anything you freak?” Byakuya stood proud, as this caused everyone else’s confidence to spark up.

“Indeed! It’s time for you to die monster, you don’t belong in this world!” Gundham then gained some confidence as well.

This only got Monokuma to silently giggle to himself. “Oh, I don’t have any way of making you do things, well then, get a load of this!” Then he launched himself on top of the statues. “Surge... O gods who dwell between light and darkness... In accordance with our contract, I summon thee now... Come forth, Monobeasts!” Before we could question this chanting, the earth rumbled. Some of us fell down but those statues came to life, turning into robot creatures! None of us could believe our eyes. T-This isn’t real is it? “Now, for the non-believers, allow me to show you a demonstration of my power!” 

“E-Everyone, get back, now!” What happened next was the robots getting a gatling gun on each of the machines, all pointed at the rabbit, destroying it and turning it into fluff without even trying. In addition, I felt one speed by my cheek, cutting it. Thankfully it didn’t hurt much, but it wasn’t an experience I enjoyed to say the least.

Monokuma simply grinned. “So, quick rundown for all confused. You all will die within the next two weeks, but if one person manages to kill someone and get away with it, you all die but that singular person lives? Got that, good, cuz your time is ticking kiddos. Better put those talents of yours to good use now. Also, by the way, your rules have been updated, so be sure to check your e-Handbook!” Monokuma disappeared. 

All of the students reacted with shock, as they dove into their pockets, to see that they in fact did have electronic handbooks. Turning them on, it had a lot of information, such as a map system, basic details about everyone else and a pet system? The thing I wanted was the rule books though, and there were in two categories, one with the rabbit and one with the bear: 

  1. Extreme violence is prohibited on this island. Please live peaceful and relaxing lives with your fellow students.
  2. Be considerate of each other and work together to obtain Hope Fragments.
  3. Littering is not allowed. Let us coexist with this island's bountiful nature in "mutual prosperity".
  4. The lead teacher cannot directly interfere with the students. An exception to this rule is made if any student violates a rule.
  5. Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.
  6. If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
  7. If the blackened is not exposed, the remaining students will be executed.
  8. As a reward, the surviving blackened will be forgiven of their crime and allowed to leave the island.
  9. The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people discover a body for the first time.
  10. Destroying any property of this island without permission is expressly prohibited. This includes surveillance cameras and monitors.
  11. You are free to investigate this island at your own discretion. Your actions in this regard are not limited.
  12. Last Rule: Additional School Trip Rules may be added at any of the teacher’s discretion.



Now my head is feeling light again. “Hey, I’m just going to go to my room and faint. Please don’t wake me up until this nightmare is over, thanks.” Figured I should warn everyone before I fainted for the third time today. I got to my room, which was unlocked, although I didn’t feel like locking it, and collapsed on the bed I had for company. At least this is somewhat normal…

*DING DONG* “It is now 10pm and that means it's officially night time. Get some shuteye kiddos, because tomorrow’s going to be another beautiful day for you!” The bear singalled my time to rest, which I guess isn’t too unusual, apart from everything, but at least there’s nothing going to happen to me.

“H-Hello?” The scream my pillow had to take was painful for both of us. “I-I know you don’t want me around and I get that. I’ll just give my piece and go. I heard what you said at the park, b-before Monokuma attacked. You had every right to be suspicious and I don’t blame you for that, but please, just try to get closer to the others. They want to be with you.” The rabbit looked around for a second, before placing ten shiny coins. “These will help. There’s a machine on the beach, get some gifts. It’ll make people want to hang out with you, plus you seem like the type who’d prefer to give than take. T-Trust is important now, more than ever and you need to get trust to help as many people as possible. Y-You’re the only one that can do it… Good l-luck, your teacher is counting on you…” The rabb- No, Monomi left me with some coins, and some strangely helpful advice. If I can help others… Then, yeah. I have to get close to them. Plus she’s right. The trust I can place on others, that’s going to be the most important thing. I’ll have to decide tomorrow who I’m going to place that trust in. I just hope they’ll trust me back.

Day 1/14 Finished!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here we go again. Yep, Danganronpa 2 is on the chopping block now, which is both fun and frightening since I'm even more scared to write these characters than I was in canon, so if I write a character poorly, please let me know, because I do want to try and not make this awful. Anyway Danganronpa 2 is an interesting game, people tend to think it's the best in the entire series, which is an opinion that I do not fully share. I'll explain as I go on. But I do want to simply talk about one thing before we continue, the reason as to why I'm making this compared to the first one. The first one in this series was made for a very simple reason, I wanted to make a fanfic where Chihiro Fujisaki got more screen time and didn't die, which is why a lot of it was unplanned. This one was made out of a desire to not only give my take on this series, but also because I want to try and improve myself and I also had a lot of ideas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this school trip and I will try my best.


	2. Day 2: Photographing Luck.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime is starting out his new life on the island and is forced to hang out with Mahiru and Nagito, before the party starts.

*DING DONG* “It’s now 7am. Get ready for another beautiful day in your paradise.” Monokuma’s voice appears on the speakers, which was a shock to me, but I guess I’m just not used to it. I have these Monocoins to spend on gifts, she said the beach, right?

I rushed over there, to find that it hadn’t changed much since yesterday. Still a beautiful sandy beach. But there was a tree with a gacha machine, which is most likely what Monomi was talking about. I sild my new shiny coins into the machine and got the following prizes.

  1. Jabbaian Jewelry 
  2. Ubiquitous Handbook 
  3. Tips & Tips 2nd Edition 
  4. Kirlian Photography 
  5. Many-Sided Dice Set 
  6. The Funbox 
  7. American Clacker.
  8. Power Gauntlet 
  9. Japanese Tea Cup 
  10. Secret Wind Sword Book



Pretty unique set of items, but hopefully these will help me with getting trust with the other students. After this I walked through the island, finding nobody. In most situations, I would enjoy this, a peaceful walk in the sand and paradise, but here, all I can feel is dread. Every step was accompanied with a heart beat. It hadn’t even been a day and his death game has taken a toll on me hasn’t it...

I searched around the hotel lobby and I heard some noise upstairs, and so I ended up finding everyone else, which was good to see. “Geez, we’ve been waiting for ages and you’re so late! What kept you?” Mahiru impatiently turned everyone’s attention on me, to which I’m not sure how to really answer. Should I be honest and let everyone know what happened?

No, that’s a bad call right now. Nobody in their right mind would trust Monomi, so if I’m in kahoots with her, then that can only mean bad things. “I slept in.” That was the easy thing to say.

I noticed Mahiru getting upset at this, but Nagito simply laughed. “To be fair, Chiaki did the same, plus it was a long day. But Ibuki, shouldn’t you had woken him up though?” 

A small amount of sweat dripped from my head. Ibuki looking confused only made matters worse. “Well, yeah. But Hajime wasn’t in so Ibuki tried yelling for him and that didn’t work either!” She didn’t seem upset or anything, just genuine confusion, which actually seems worse. 

“Yeah, you were super loud… Woke me up after I fell back asleep.” 

“It would be for the best if you told us what actually happened Hajime.” Peko’s forcefulness contrasted Chiaki’s drowsiness, but it made me even more nervous.

“Fine, I just wanted to take a walk on the beach, OK? Yesterday was frustrating and I needed some time to calm down.” This gave me a nod from Peko, as she sat back down. I’m surprised she took at so easily, but it’s not something I really want to complain about. 

Byakuya then slammed his drumstick on the table. “Listen, everyone. I feel that this situation has put us all in a problematic place, both emotionally and physically, judging by some of our reactions. So as your new leader, allow me to propose an idea.” 

“Since when were you our leader?” Akane muffed out, while trying to eat her food.

Byakuya looked at her disgruntledly. “Well, I don’t see anyone else wanting to help lead us, so I think it’s safe for me to do so. Does anyone have any objections?”

There was a silence, until someone spoke up. “This was a goddamn waste of my time, I see. People making themselves leaders always makes things worse. Besides, I don’t think a fat asshole like you could possibly stop people from murdering. What if that bear or rabbit comes up with a motive, which affects you? How are you going to react, break everyone else’s trust? Do whatever you want, but I’m not risking my life to play along with you losers.” Fuyuhiko just walked out of the building, after speaking with a livid tone, but not shouting. 

“Sheesh, what a drama queen. Somebody needs his hot milk so he can go to sleep.” Hiyoko was there with the helpful and snarky commentary, which caused an angry reaction from the Yakuza.

“FUCK YOU!” Hiyoko could only laugh at this.

This caused Mikan to clearly get slightly worried however. ”H-He might not be able to drink milk though...“

“Well, good thing your a pig and not a cow, otherwise I’d ask you to prove that theory true.” 

“Waaaa-! I-I’m sorry!” 

This caused Mikan to start crying, which for some reason nobody wanted to speak up about. I mean, I don’t want to either, it just seems like she needs space right now. “Well, both Pig and Cow are delicious so I’d consider it a complement.” 

“Oh, oh, are we gonna be eating each other now! I want to have some nibbles!” Akane and Ibuki did nothing to help, only making her tears and noises confused with their energetic responses. 

Sonia then spoke up. “Is it normal for you to eat each other here? Because if so, I want a bite of all of your meat!” This caused everyone to react and for the room to erupt into chaos. 

To my side, Nagito started choking, so I had to try and get the food out of his system, which is hard when you don’t remember the proper technique. “Well, if you want Sonia, Ibuki’s available 24/7!” 

Kazuichi then piped up, “Y-Yeah, me too, I’m ready to be sucked dry anytime!” 

“Well, if you want, I could help you out with that.” Teruteru not missing his chance tried to get close to the two. To the side, I saw Gundham simply feeding his hamsters, Mahiru dying inside and Byakuya clearly getting upset. 

“Everybody be quiet! Byakuya’s the one here with the most leadership experience, so he’s the one that we should listen to and to lead us. Sure he doesn’t look capable, but I say we give him a chance and please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t make fun of Sonia for not knowing what certain words mean. If you absolutely have to laugh, explain what she did wrong, OK? Thank you…” Mahiru stood up and yelled all of this to the class, before slumping back into her chair. I have to admit, that was impressive, especially since it did calm all of us down.

“Wait, so I did something wrong? I’m sorry…” Sonia sounds really dejected now, which made me feel awful for her...

“It’s fine Sonia, it’s not your fault. Peko, do you mind telling her about what she said?” This caused Peko to get slightly embarrassed, but she just nodded her head.

Byakuya remained stunned, but shook that off. “Hmph, she is correct. As for what I am saying we should do, I firmly believe that we should do some events in order to build connections in the group, so we will not be swayed by the bear’s schemes. So, for my idea, I say we have a party to strengthen our bonds.” We all remained silent. 

A party, he’s not serious, right? That’s the prime time to kill someone. “I think it’s a wonderful idea! It’ll be great to get everyone together so then hope and bonds can flourish!” Nagito seems on-board with the idea. His optimism is infectious because now I feel a little more excited for this.

“Where would we even have this party though? There doesn’t seem to be any suitable locations, especially to comfortably fit this many people.” 

Peko’s response made us all think, but Byakuya remained calm. “I’ve taken the liberty of finding a location, and the unused building should be helpful to this goal.” 

“W-Wait, you can’t use that, it’s dangerous in there!” Monomi interrupted us, which caused reactions, but also a teacher’s order can’t exactly be countered, right?

Chiaki then spoke up. “Well, parties help people connect, right? So we might be able to get more hope fragments, which was the purpose of this trip, right?” 

The rabbit seemed pretty happy at Chiaki’s words. “I’m so glad you remembered about that! OK, I’ll help you out, let me get the building up and running really fast with my magic, although I can’t really clean it for you…” The rabbit ran off, with her abirtarty ruleset, but hey, we got a room, so I can’t complain.

“S-So, who’s going to be cleaning up then…”

“Well, can’t be you, pig-breath.” This caused Mikan to cry again and I couldn’t help but feel bad. 

Nagito then looked around, as nobody else was signing up. “How about we play straws to decide then, that’s fun to me!” Nagito had motioned this idea to us and I had to agree. 

We all took out a straw and the person with the shortest one was Nagito! “Heh, looks like your luck isn’t paying off Nagito.” This was given with a chuckle, which everyone shared, while Nagito could only sigh.

“Well, I’ll go get some cleaning equipment. I suppose it’s better this way, not wasting any of your time and all that.” The unlucky man then walked off, not really bothered by all of this.

Then we all looked to Byakuya for some advice, he is the one organising all of this after all. 

It took him a minute but he eventually got an answer. “Come to the building after the nighttime announcement, from there I’ll let you all know of the plans for the party. For now you are free to do as you please.” His calm words allowed us all to disperse and find something else to do.

Now, who am I going to talk to today? I know Monomi wanted us to grow closer, but there’s nobody who I feel I can strengthen my bond with…

Well, if there’s nobody I feel confident with, then maybe I should build an alliance, who would be the most useful to keep alive? 

“Hey, if you’re just going to stand there, then come with me.” My head turned to the voice. Mahiru has a serious look on her face, and her voice matched that completely, which I guess doesn’t really surprise me much. 

Still, why me? Guess I might as well hang out. “What do you want to do?” She rolled her eyes at this response. 

“Find a way out of this killing game of course. It’s not like either of us want to be here, so it’s best if we focus our efforts on that, and I need to make sure that at least one of you is pulling your weight.” Oh, that makes sense, although her voice did paint a picture that it was supposed to be obvious, which it really should have been.

“Yeah, I’d be glad to come along.” I reached into my pocket and got out the Ubiquitous Handbook and handed it to her. “Maybe this will be helpful to you.”

“O-Oh, thanks. That’s surprisingly thoughtful of you…” Her voice grew slightly more soft and quiet and so we started to just peacefully walk, keeping an eye out for any clues. 

“Maybe there might be something on a product? Let’s check out the mall.” 

Mahiru thought about it for a second. “Sure, if they were insane enough to kidnap us all, there’s a chance that they might be insane enough to do something like that.” So we nodded and headed there.

Once we got to the building, we found Ibuki playing around with some perfume. “AAA! P-Please stop, Ibuki!” Then I saw Mikan running around in fear and Peko trying to chase her. We both turned around. 

“Let’s try somewhere else for now.” I just followed Mahiru. After a while, it was clear we didn’t really get anywhere, and she clearly wasn’t having any of it. “Geez, why is it so hard to find some simple clues! I can’t even find any imperfections in here.”

“Imperfections?”

“You know, like small things that seem off, like a pen out of place or some cracks in the wall. It’s honestly kind of creepy. Whoever put us here really went all out…” Looking at it now, it does seem a little too perfect. That’s a little weird. 

Still, the mood was a little too depressing for me to handle right now. “Hey, you’re the Ultimate Photographer, right? Do you want to talk about that?” 

She looked to the side for a second. “Sure, it’s not like I can ask you about your Ultimate anyway. What do you want to know about first?”

I took a second to think. “What inspired you to be a photographer?” 

“My mother. She was a war photographer and she would show me some of her photos. Not the ones of the more gruesome aspects of course, but the ones of the smiling faces. Seeing them all just made me love the idea of taking photos, capturing the moment where everyone is their happiest, that just brings joy to my heart.” As she spoke, she had a fondness to her tone, happily reflecting on her past and her mother. It honestly felt kind of sweet to her. “Still, I always thought that with the right circumstances, that anyone could take nice photos, but I was proven wrong on that…” With one fell swoop, her tone went back to the Mahiru I had known for longer.

“What do you mean by that?”

She then pulled out a familiar looking picture, although it was a bit blurry. “This is what you produced yesterday.” 

“Well, what’s wrong with it?” I felt myself sweating a bit, as I’m unsure what exactly is wrong with it.

This was followed by a giant sigh. “Well, if you must know, first half of us are blinking, second the camera’s tilted in a bad angle and lastly the camera is so shaken that it looks like you took it in the arctic!” By the end of her rant she had her arms folded, and honestly I don’t know what to say after all of that. 

We didn’t talk after that, I just feel kind of weird after that. “Hey, I don’t think there’s much more we can explore. Why not go help Nagito. You two seem to like each here and then you can make the party happen.” I nodded and waved farewell. 

Guess taking photos is harder than it looks though. I walked up to the abandoned house and let myself in. “Hey, do you want some help here?” 

Then the Ultimate Lucky Student himself came out of the main hall. “Oh, Hajime, glad to see you! Well, there’s not much really to do now, but if you want, you can just clean up the storeroom.” He then took me to the room to start cleaning and he decided to help me out, which was nice of him. We were just in silence for a while. “So, any information about your talent Hajime?” He certainly didn’t carry any malice, especially not in his voice, but the question wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

“No, no new information about my talent. Well, whatever happened, Monokuma or Monomi has taken some of our memories away. What about you and your talent?” 

He looked serious for a second. “Well, I suppose that it’s only fair that I explain what my talent is, I have the talent of luck. It is pathetic, but my luck is something that was deemed noteworthy by Hope’s Peak Academy, so I was invited to the school thanks to this waste of a so called talent.” Nagito didn’t seem very happy about all of this.

Maybe I should cheer him up. “Well, the school was interested in you because of your luck, right? Well, maybe it’s so outstanding that that just had to see it, why not talk about your past.” 

He then looked around for a couple of seconds. “I don’t see why not. If you want to know why my luck is so crazy, then I’ll tell you about the time where I went on holiday to where I live today. So, on the plane that took me there, a thunderstorm happened, which took out the flight engines and caused it to crash killing everyone but me, which included my parents. After I was healed up at the hospital, they let me go. While on the road, I found a lottery ticket, but then I got kidnapped for ransom, even though no human alive would even care enough to save me. However before I got there, the engine blew up in the car, so they were stranded. It took a while, but only I was found. Also this happened all within one day.” He said all this so casually… 

I couldn’t say anything afterwards. Is he even telling the truth… It doesn’t really matter I suppose but still, I need a while to wrap my head around it. 

Soon enough, we ended up finishing the cleaning of the building. “Hey, Hajime. Maybe your Ultimate Talent is Ultimate Maid.” He let this out and in turn I laughed at him.

“I can’t be a maid, I’m a guy.” 

“Hey, doesn’t mean you can’t be a girl in disguise.” 

“Considering what I’ve just been told and everything about yesterday, it’d make more sense than that.” My voice was snarky and calm, but Nagito didn’t seem offended or anything like that. 

“Well, I think you’d be a cute girl.” He sounds sincere and that’s the worst part of it. “I think I’d prefer you as a guy though.” 

“And that’s my limit.” I walked off.

“Oops, sorry Hajime, see you at the party.” After that I simply laid in bed. Nagito’s flirting with me and Mahiru’s opening up to me at the speed of a rock in a race. I’m starting to think I might not had picked the right people to hang out with. Although Mahiru was the one to start the conversation and get me to hang out with Nagito. 

*DING DONG* “It is now 10pm and that means it's officially night time. Get some shuteye kiddos, because tomorrow’s going to be another beautiful day for you!” Monokuma’s voice rang out to the room, which gave me the signal to move out.

The outside was quiet, but I guess everyone else is already at the party. Doesn’t make it any less scary to be simply walking alone. I went into the building I had left earlier. There I found two things, a number pad on the wall next to the door and the worse part, which was Byakuya doing some sort of border control. I don’t have anything on me, but why do I feel so nervous… “Hmph, you should had been here earlier, but whatever.” He began to walk towards me, as I started to move backwards. 

“W-Why are you walking towards me…” 

The sound of pure fear in my voice didn’t help the situation, as he didn’t change his expression. “I’m going to do a body check on you. You should be honored, not everyone gets to be this close to the Ultimate  Affluent Progeny.” I kept moving backwards until I reached a corner, and his big size did not allow me to escape. 

“I-I don’t have anything that could be a threat to anyone !” My voice was a mixture of a terrified whisper and a desperate yell. 

“That is not a risk I want to take!” He’s getting more forceful now. 

Soon he towered over me. “C-Can I just not go to the party… please…” 

“Of course not! We’ve worked hard on this party, plus as your leader, I have to make sure everyone is safe!” He then stood still for a second. “It’s only a body check, why are you so against this?” 

His voice went down for a second, almost dropping his tone. Strange, but I think I have to take this chance. “I just don’t feel comfortable being touched…” He stood for one second. 

He then stepped back and walked over to the table. “Fine, I understand. As your leader, it is my job to not only keep everyone safe, but to make sure everyone feels safe. You must empty any pockets though, and keep an eye on that sword above your head.” I nodded and began to empty everything I had, which was nothing. He was satisfied after a while and let me into the party, which was full of shocked people. 

“O-Oh, Hajime. Man, I thought that you were about to be murdered with your panicked voice. Glad to see you’re OK though.” Kazuichi was first with some uncomforting words. 

Ibuki looked shocked and came up close, which made me nudge away from her. “Wow, you’re as pale as a ghost Hajime! Man, maybe you are a ghost, someone get me a vacuum cleaner and a flashlight!” 

“Fool, that is no way to deal with a paranormal threat, the best way to sort out a creature like this is with the ringing of hell’s bells!” Gundham spoke up with his own booming voice. 

“Hmph, whatever the best way is to take care of the dead, it shall not be needed, for we will not have a death upon our hands. It’s time for us to relax and party.” Byakuya walked up behind me and with his words, everyone just went around doing their own things. 

However Chiaki began to walk off, and so I walked up to her. “Hey, where are you going?” 

She turned to look at me, and she was incredibly tried. “Byakuya wanted someone to keep watch for Monokuma. I don’t like loud sounds or areas, so I volunteered.” 

“Right, just keep safe.” She smiled at me and did a small little nod, before walking off. 

Then everyone else just relaxed, having fun. It’s honestly nice to see, reminds me of yesterday. Akane and Byakuya were having an eating contest, with Ibuki commenating, Mahiru was taking photos, Peko was sitting by herself. Teruteru wasn’t in the room, but he was making more food for us all. Nekomaru had just come in, although I don’t think I want to ask why. Gundham was playing with his hamsters and Kazuichi was trying and failing to talk to Sonia. However there was another conversation happening, with Hiyoko and Mikan. I walked over to them. 

“Come on, have some! Or would you rather drink whatever Teruteru made?” Hiyoko was holding up a couple of glasses of orange juice, all of which had a lemon on them.

“I-I mean, why are you offering me one though? D-Didn’t you call me a pig earlier?” 

“Well, I’m just saying things as I see them. But still, Teruteru’s first interaction was trying to trick an idiot, I’m just looking out for everyone.” Hiyoko’s smug aura clearly made Mikan uncomfortable, but I’m just focusing on this orange juice.

“Hey, can I have some?” 

Hiyoko turned to look at me in complete shock, before shrugging. “Sure, I don’t mind. Orange juice is nice, might give you enough strength to grow a backbone.” Degrading her insult, I picked up a drink and a huge pile of food, before gobbling it all up. I noticed that a few others went to get the drink from Hiyoko and everything went as normal. Gundham was looking around for something and Sonia was hanging out with him, but taking a closer look, he’s lost an earring I think. Peko suddenly rushed out, which confused me. 

“AHHHHHHHH!” I let out a scream as my head began to hurt, a lot. I noticed some others looked uncomfortable, but I couldn’t pay attention. 

“Hajime?” Mahiru was the first to speak up, noticing my discomfort, but that only made it hurt more. 

“W-What the hell is going on?” Byakuya yelled this out in a complete panic, which made my head hurt even more…

“I’m taking him back to his room. He’s likely gotten sick from eating too much.” 

“H-Hmph, no one is leaving the party under my watch!” Mahiru’s point was countered by Byakuya, who sounded stressed.

“Actually, it would be safer for him. He might be having a migraine, or something similar. He gets more uncomfortable whenever someone talks, so staying in a quiet place might be safest.” Sonia then spoke up, which was followed by silence, until I felt two hands on me, causing me to clench up. 

Even though I was tensed up, Mahiru simply kept on walking, taking me out of the room. “The hell’s going on in there?” Fuyuhiko yelled out, causing me to wince more. 

“I don’t know, but he’s going to his room.” Mahiru spoke out, before walking us both away. 

“Hey, rabbit, is this some kind of murder attempt by you?” Mahiru froze. I tried to walk away, but I ended up falling to me knees. 

“W-What, no! Even if I was as cruel as Monokuma, I wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway. I implemented rule 4 for this reason! I can’t do anything to you guys, only guide you!” 

Monomi sounded hurt, but Fuyuhiko’s grunt didn’t seem sympathetic. “Hey, Momoni, is there anything for something like Hajime’s illness in the mall?” 

The rabbit remained quiet for a second. “No. I had the medicines stored on the second island. With those Monobeasts in the way, I can’t do anything to get them for you…” Mahiru then walked me onwards.

As soon as I got into my room, I had to wobble to the bathroom, in order to throw up. “Geez, I didn’t think you’d be so unaware of your own surroundings to not realise you couldn’t eat anymore.” 

“I… ate less... than usual.” In between my sounds of pain, I managed to get those words out, which caused a worrying silence.

“Peko was ill as well… I knew Teruteru couldn’t be trusted…” Her voice started off worried but soon became incredibly angry. 

After a while, I managed to stop throwing up, thankfully, and so I walked out of the bathroom, wiping my face. Mahiru was simply sitting on my bed. “Why didn’t you go back to the party?” 

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t in danger. With Teruteru being around, he might had poisoned you or something.” Mahiru kept a look of seriousness, but something tells me there’s a little more to it than that. 

*DING DONG* Monokuma appeared on the screens again, but it’s way past midnight now, right? Plus it’s night outside, so it clearly can’t be the morning announcement… “A body has been discovered! You shall be given time to investigate after which a Class Trial will begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yep, the ship is gonna be Hajime and Mahiru. Why, because she's the character who got wasted the most out of anyone, which is something I might complain about a lot. A lot of people think that DR2 is the best game in the series and I... don't fully agree with that. I'll continue more as we go on. But anyway, yep there's gonna be a murder, day 2. Super scary haha. But seriously I'm slightly worried because I think I'm writing less and that kind of scares me because I think I'm getting worse. Anyway hope you enjoyed, even though it's not very good.


	3. Deadly Life 1!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the party, it seems that everyone is wanting to go again, although this time, it's not for a fun reason.

The announcement Monokuma has just made finished and I can feel my heart racing. “D-Did you-“ 

“Y-Yes! Everyone did! G-Geez, you can’t even figure something like that out… Whatever, we’ve gotta get to the others, right now!” Mahiru ran out of my room and I ended up locking my door. 

We both ran up to the unused house to find the three who were outside before are still outside. “W-Why are you both still outside?” 

“Because we can’t get in!” 

“I’ve looked all over for an entry point and it seems impossible to enter from the outside, barring the door.” While Fuyuhiko was panicking and screaming, Chiaki somehow managed to remain calm and subdued. 

“Tch, at least this proves that none of us four could be the murderer.” Fuyuhiko’s words sent shivers down my spine. 

Mahiru however ran over to the door and began to speak with a livid tone. “Just stop talking.” Then she tried to open the thing, while Fuyuhiko just walked off.

“Where are you going?”

“Investigating on my own, duh. I’m taking a look around this dumb island before the killer gets rid of the evidence that might be around. See ya.” He walked off, leaving us all to simply remain in silence as Mahiru was trying to get into the house, until she fell through the door. 

“Oh, so that’s what that ruckus was. Seems you kids made the right choice by getting sick, BWAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, you losers should go see the dead person, it might be important to you or something like that.” The three of us just kept walking, until we saw Ibuki, who was acting as some sort of director for us. She was pointing to a room that I don’t remember going in, but everyone knew that’s where the body was. 

Everyone was surrounding the body, which I’m sure if the person was still alive they would appreciate quite a lot. There’s a part of me that knows that you would not have used that attention well, but whatever, I came as well. Does that please you Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Chef?

I didn’t like him. He gave a bad first impression and I never really got a chance to see him make up for it, since the second day flew by so fast. He was a pervert, there’s no question there, but seeing him like this is just haunting. He had 4 extremely thin stab holes in his body and he was faced upwards, but I think this was done by the others after the fact, since otherwise the blood would trickle down him. 

“Alright, everyone’s finally here and we got the lights working after a while. Sheesh, whoever took out the lights really wanted something to happen. Also, wow! I didn’t even need to give you kids a motive, you just straight up did it! Well, this is a good sign for me, you’ll all be dead by the end of these two weeks for sure, BWAHAHAHAHA!” Monokuma appeared in front of all of us, cackling maniacally.

“Not all of us are here, Fuyuhiko hasn’t turned up.” Peko did speak up, but she was brushed aside quickly.

Monokuma then threw out some kind of tablet. 15 of them. “Well, whatever, he doesn’t really matter anyway, not really important to this case. Anyway, allow me to introduce the Monokuma File! This gives information on the corpse, so of corpse you should use it if you feel like not dying. Anyway, I’ll see you at the trial kids, I’ve got an execution to plan!” He then fled the scene, leaving us all in silence. Without a word, I walked over to the Monokuma File and picked it up.

“Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Cook was found dead at 11.30 with 4 stab wounds on his body.” It’s not exactly descriptive, but I suppose there’s not much that really can be done. He’s dead and I have to accept that fact. There’ll also be a class trial and someone else will die. I’m just hoping that someone knows how the legal system works here.

Everyone simply looked around, without much to say. Eventually, Chiaki spoke up. “Do any of you have alibis? I know me, Fuyuhiko, Hajime and Mahiru are innocent, since there’s no way for us to get into the building.” This made everyone else fall into silence once again, before Nagito spoke up. 

“Well, there’s no real way to be able to tell, there was a power outage a few minutes after you left, until a couple of minutes ago. Took longer to fix the door for some reason.”

“So that means that nearly everyone here’s a suspect. Someone’s going to need to look after the body, most likely two.” Nagito and then Mahiru spoke up, both of them trying to keep calm, with the former doing so much better than the latter did. 

“Eh, I’ll stay here then, there’s food somewhere around here and I’d be useless in an investigation like this.” Akane spoke up and while she didn’t care, it’s nice to see that she’s offering to help.

Nekomaru then stood forward. “Then I’ll stick by her, if we’re going with strong people, we need to make sure that they can help each other out.” 

For some reason, Peko got really nervous about this. “No, you really shouldn’t. Considering your… tendencies, I think it’d be better for someone who doesn’t need to use the toilet all the time to go.” 

“Then I’ll go.” Byakuya had a pitiful look on his face, all that pride gone, almost instantly. “I failed at protecting everyone, I’ll focus on the body.” Everyone looked at each other and we accepted the decision. Now we’ve got to investigate. 

“OK, but how were we not able to get inside, seems like an intentional design flaw there.” Mahiru was the first to speak up while others had gone in their own directions. 

Nagito crossed his arms and had a neutral look, surprising but he hasn’t really been reacting to this. “That would be the power outage taking out the number pad. Monokuma had us remain near the body and he didn’t know the code, so it took us a few extra minutes to get you guys out.” 

“Well, why didn’t any of you tell him?”

“Byakuya didn’t want anyone to know the code.” Chiaki’s question was answered instantly by Nagito, who simply looked at Byakuya who wasn’t responding to anything really. After a little nod, I got to work. 

“Hey Mikan, you’re a nurse, right? Can you give some information on the body?” The nurse I was talking to get nervous, but took a quick look at the body.

“I-I think he must have died instantly, the shock would be too much to handle.” I nodded in response and gave her a small smile.

“Thanks Mikan.” She gave a small little giggle. I took a look at the body just to be safe. He had a bit of blood on the table behind him, his nose and a slit wrist, which means the weapon went all the way through him, and I think I see the weapon to the side. A meat skewer, bent, also likely scratched the walls, either that or something else managed to create those huge marks on the walls. 

“Why is there glass here?” Mahiru turned and pointed to the floor, and I saw the glass she was talking about. 

Byakuya then spoke up. “I had most of it removed for safety reasons, but that plie of glass used to be a light.” So that’s interesting to note.

There doesn’t seem to be anything else of note, so I guess I’ll just leave. “Hey, Jimmy.” 

“Hajime.”

“Well, I was close. Anyway, Byakuya took a knife from this area and I should let you know that the body smells weird.” I turned right back to Akane, who was calm. 

It took me a second, but I couldn’t smell anything off. “I don’t smell anything, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Then I walked out of the room.

Now I have the entirety of this building to explore for clues. There was a power outage, so let’s go explore that. I don’t remember seeing a power box in any of the rooms I was in, so I think it’s in the only room I didn’t check, funny how that works out. I walked into the room to find Kazuichi there. “Hey, do you know what happened with the power?”

He turned towards me with a grunt. “Eh, seems to be overloaded somehow, not sure exactly why it happened, but it overheated so much it’s dangerous to even touch.” Kazuichi looked pretty mopey, which I can understand, someone has just been killed after all.

“How on Earth did the power manage to be restored if that was cooked?” Mahiru popped up behind me, causing me to jump in fright. 

“Thanks to me of course!” Monokuma popped out of the ground causing me to jump again. “As your headmaster, I can do lots of powerful things, including fix all of your problems, as long as they make the killing game more fun.”

“So you only fixed the electricity after the killing occurred?”

“Yep, anyway, so that’s the reason you can see. If I’m needed for nothing else, I’l-“

“Wait, do you know where everyone was when the lights came on?” Me and Monokuma were the only two to speak, but my request caught his attention and he definitely thought about what to say.

Then his red robotic eye began to shine brightly. “You know what, I’ll give you this one, you of all people would need all the help you can get anyway. I’m sure I don’t need to explain 4 of you, but Ibuki and that idiot Byakuya were the ones to find the body. Mikan, Peko and Nekomaru were in the hallway, Hiyoko was in this room, Gundham was in the storage room and the rest were in the food hall. Anyway, that should be enough information for you kids to not need me anymore, have fun!” So after that, the bear was gone, hopefully I won’t have to be around him. So those are certainly some positions, might lead to something later.

“If you’re going to finally acknowledge my existence, I would like to say something.” Hiyoko popped up out of nowhere making me jump for a third time. “Sheesh you jump more than an easily squishable incest.”

“What do you want Hiyoko…” 

“Wow, the trial hasn’t even started and you’re tired. Fine, I’ll just get to the point, I’d rather not think about this too much, but that dirty blackened was here at one point! Look at that blanket!” She pointed towards a sheet that was all crumpled up. “It had blood on it, and when the lights came back on, I was right next to it! Although I did hear a door opening and closing...” A bloody sheet? That’s interesting, although she had a voice that had more disgust than anything. I nodded to her and kept looking around the room. 

The only thing that caught my eye was a wire coming out of the closet. Opening it up, there was a pile of electronics, all plugged in, without much logic behind it.

“Seems like a general mis-conductor of electrical safety.” Everyone simply turned to Mahiru with a blank expression, before she just shyly turned away. There was also a timer that had stopped at 11pm, wonder why that is, better keep it at the back of my mind, just in case it ends up being important. 

There doesn’t seem to be anything else here, so I’ll just leave for now. As I left, I noticed Mahiru was still following me. “Hey, why are you still following me?” 

Her face turned to shock, but soon into annoyance. “Well, apart from the fact that a murder just took place and you’re one of the few people here who I know is truly innocent, I’m making sure you’re not being useless.” So I’m now escorting her or something? Well, I suppose it’s no big deal, better for more people to know things anyway. 

I walked around the hall, to find Gundham and Peko, who were both doing other things. “Hey, do you two have any infomation about this whole murder case?”

Peko then stood for a second, before having an awkward expression. “Well, I think there may be two more people who aren’t the killer.” 

This is a twist. “There’s more than us who are innocent? That’s great! So, do you have any proof for it.” Peko remained silent and worried.

“I-It’s me and Nekomaru. That’s all you need to know.” I heard fear in her voice, so I decided to just leave it be for now, although I might have to question it later.

“Do you have any information Gundham?” I turned to the man, who looked pretty happy with himself.

“I do indeed have two pieces of information for you. First of all, as I was searching for my missing earring and so I was able to go underground, where I was ambushed by the screams of a demon and then it’s blood!” I have no idea how to respond to that.

“Did the so called demon sound like Teruteru? That’s the only way I would be able to tell if someone’s a genuine demon.” Mahiru thankfully did the responding for me.

Then he crossed his arms. “No, the demon did have a high pitched voice, most likely a female. But either way, I think this wall should be helpful to you.” He turned towards the hall, much to my confusion, although Peko walked up.

“He’s likely talking about the movable wall.” Peko moved the wall so then it reached all the way out, therefore showing it off to be completely black.

“Indeed, that was the enemy that was guarding my exit from the depths.” Gundham seemed a little angry, but this is important information. It wasn’t like this when we left, so it’s a new addition to the room. 

I do want to ask one more thing though. “You went underneath right, and the only way down there is through the storage room. If you looked in there before the lights went out, did anything change at all?” 

This was returned with a smug grin from the Animal Breeder. “Indeed, something did change, a box was opened, one can only assume it was a demon.” 

Well I’m doubtful of some of his reasoning, that is still incredibly helpful. I don’t think there’s anything else here for me to do though, so I’ll keep moving on. 

I moved into the main hall, where Ibuki was waving about. Might as well go see what she’s up to. “Hey Hajime! So you’re gonna ask me about my abilbi, right? Well, I was with Byakuya the whole time, his big body made a comfy pillow to take a nap on and he had night vision with his goggles!” She’s enthusiastic, which is normal for her, I think.

Still, might be helpful to ask. “Do you know anything about the murderer?” 

“Nope, sorry mate.” Then I will find him, I will reveal him and nobody will ever die again. “I can tell you this though, Teruteru did say something like this, “Hey… Follow me, I’ve got a light.”” Huh, so that could be helpful. Why would Teruteru say something like that though. That might be something I work on in the trial. I gave her a little nod and waddled over to Nagito. 

“Hey, I know I came in after you, but is there any more information about the cleaning you should let me know about?”

“Nope, nothing important.” His causal nature caught me off-guard. He’s suspicious, if only because of that. I should focus on getting more information about this thing though. I looked around the building, when I heard a voice.

“Hajime, under here.” I went over to Mahiru’s location, and looked under where she was looking. “This is glue that can be seen in the dark. Someone left something here, but I don’t know what.” She just had a thoughtful tone to her, although I wonder what could be left down here. 

*DING DONG* “Welp, that’s enough time for you kids! Your first new look into the world of the killing game shall begin! Head to the Jabberwock Island and find your way to the buildings that feature your best pal, Monokuma!” The announcement went off, which means everyone else began to walk off, which I followed. 

Before I left the building however, I took a sneak peak at the chest that Byakuya was using. 10 knives, 10 forks and 9 meat skewers. That might be interesting. But what caught my eye even more was a letter. It’s addressed to him… Better take it just in case, although it might not be important. 

However, this doesn’t matter too much. I walked over to the beach area of the middle island, where everyone else was.

“W-What do you think that mean bear is going to do to us?” Mikan was the first one to timidly speak up.

This was followed by a sigh from Hiyoko. “Obviously he’s going to make us try and find out who killed him, then if everyone here isn’t a dummy, only one of us will die, but that still means two people died under the fatso’s rule.” Both Byakuya and Mikan were dejected at the words, which I can’t blame them for. 

I did hear mumbles from another direction. “Well, if nothing’s going to happen, like it is now, then maybe only one person’s gonna get fucking killed.” Fuyuhiko remained somewhat calm, although I don’t know exactly why.

“Keep your guard up. This is an island where anything can happen.” Peko’s words caused everyone to tense up, but she is right. 

Then one of the Monokuma heads opened its mouth and an escalator popped out, which everyone decided to walk up.

I ended up letting everyone else go in front of me, seems like the right thing to do. Teruteru, I don’t really know what I can say about him without insulting him too much. He’s a pervert and a lot of other things, sure. But in a way, seeing him dead so fast. I didn’t even get the chance to know him and in a way, that’s the saddest part of this. Someone else is going to die, but on the bright side, I have the most unbiased view of this case, since I wasn’t even near it when it happened. Hopefully everyone else will be able to pick up the slack, because this isn’t just a fight to see who murdered someone, this is a fight for our lives, and we’ll need more information in order to save our future. Let’s do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Teruteru being the first death. Yeah, I don't like him, he's not funny and doesn't really have much in my eyes. I'm not sure if I could write him to be good or better sadly. Besides, I'm not really a fan of making or writing those types of jokes, so I felt it was better this way. Anyway, see you all next time with the trial of doom.
> 
> *Also note on 25/2, a lot of grammar mistakes I didn't notice first time through. Fixed the ones I noticed.*


	4. Deadly Life: The First Trial!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the death of Teruteru, the class is now sent down into the depths of the island, to a new class trial!

The elevator descended down into the new room. This room was red, white and black all over, with a checkerboard pattern on the floor, as if to say we’re all just unimportant pieces for Monokuma to corner and catch for his amusement. But that begs the question, is there another player in this, or is this a fight for our own survival. “Welcome kiddos, to the greatest time of your lives, the class trial! So, you all know the rules and so do I, but let’s go over them all as well. So the goal here is to find the blackened, if you fail at this task, you all shall be executed, however if you do manage to find the person, only the blackened will be executed, and all of you will get to live on! Does that make sense, well if not, tough luck kids, it’s showtime! Also, please make sure to head to your designated stands.” Everyone made their way over to them, and in some sort of twisted irony, I had Hiyoko and Mahiru to my side. With nothing more to do, I suppose I should start thinking about the evidence.

“Hey, so what’s up with that Teruteru stand?” Mahiru was the first one to speak and I looked at where she was looking and saw Teruteru’s stand, which had an X but with a fork and knife instead of just normal lines. 

Monokuma then laughed. “BWAHAHAHA! So glad you noticed! So I just felt that even though they weren’t in the same world as ours anymore, they shouldn’t be left out of this wonderful game, so now they’re here in spirit! Of course, not their actual spirits, they’re gone for good.” 

“T-That’s so cruel!” Momomi was tied up for some reason as she began to yell out.

I’m just going to ignore her for now. “So, where do we start with this thing?” I was the first one to speak up, which then caused some talks to start.

“Well we find out who the hell is responsible of course.” The brash voice came from Fuyuhiko, who looked pretty confident. 

“Oh wow, thanks genius, we clearly couldn’t figure that one out by ourselves.” That snarking came from Hiyoko, which caused Fuyuhiko to visibly anger.

He clenched his hand and began to yell. “Oh come on, you have no reason to get cocky, you’re a suspect here, as well as everyone in that stupid party!”

There were gasps and mumbles in the room. “Hmph, that’s impossible, the party was supposed to prevent a murder and now everyone there is a suspect?” 

“Sorry, but as much as I hate to agree with him, he’s right, there was no way for us to get in from out there, so me, Hajime, Chiaki and… Fuyuhiko are all innocent.” Mahiru pointed out to Byakuya, who was not taking the situation well at all. 

“I demand proof of this!” Byakuya was steaming now, understandable but if he’d calm down, this situation would be so much smoother. 

Then the class turned into agreeing with him. Suppose if we’re also available suspects, that might mean less chance of it being them, or something. “Yeah, proof is important in this type of case.”

“Something life or death shouldn’t be taken so lightly.” Peko and Nekomaru spoke up first. 

Sonia was the next one to speak up. “I mean, there’s nothing about a blackout that should prevent you from getting inside, right?” 

What could be definitive proof of this… “The lock pad. Mahiru tried to get in before Monokuma undid it. Because Byakuya wouldn’t give up the code, none of us could get in, or out. Chiaki and Fuyuhiko looked for ways inside outside of that, if they could have gotten in, they would have.” 

“W-Wait, does that mean Byakuya’s the culprit? He locked us up in there and hosted the party!” Kazuichi then screeched out.

“Well, unless he had some other motivation for the party, it does make sense.” Nagito does raise a good point. I shouldn’t show off that letter yet though, right? It might be important to keep until later.

“I don’t know, he did let Hajime and Mahiru leave. If he wanted to cover himself, he wouldn’t let them out, right?” 

“Actually, Ibuki is confused at something, why did the lockpad let them out but not back in?” Ibuki and Akane spoke up one after another, both confused at the situation.

“Ah, that’s all to do with the number pad. He left it unlocked in case Chiaki was in danger. When the power went out, it must had closed the door and reset the code.” Kazuichi spoke up, with Monokuma doing some sort of bell noise, in agreement.

Fuyuhiko then began to laugh. “Please, it’s obvious right? He took up the mantle of leader so then he could get everyone in one location to murder them. But he was too idotic to realise that we’d figure him out this quickly.”

“Unless he has some sort of Alibi, then he has the most chances of being the killer we’re looking for.” Peko then spoke up.

“Oh please, why would anyone stay near anyone else, that’s just asking to be murdered.” 

I don’t get Hiyoko’s point, staying near someone is a free alibi in this situation. They’d be able to support you in case you got suspected…

That’s it. “Peko’s right. I think Byakuya does have an alibi!” This put the crowd’s attention on me, which is slightly uncomfortable.

Mahiru seemed to have my back though. “What Ibuki said, right? She was with Byakuya throughout all of the blackout.” 

“Yep, yep! Ibuki was with him the whole time!” Byakuya looked a bit uncomfortable with what Ibuki was saying, but nodded along with her.

“Not to be rude, but isn’t it entirely possible for them to have worked together?” Sonia spoke up, which caused some more discord within the group.

“Nah, if they did that, then we’d have no way of telling who to vote for. Besides, didn’t the rule say only person could leave this place? Seems easier to just kill the person you’re planning to work with rather than go on an over the top scheme.” Akane came in with a surprising amount of forethought. 

“Well, that takes those two off the plate then. So now we’ve still got nine suspects left. What do we discuss now?” Chiaki was the next one up, and nobody seemed to have a clue, so she began to think vocally. “I’m curious about Nagito to be honest…” 

“Now why would you be curious about me?”

“How did you mess up on cleaning so badly that there was a knife and a meat skewer around?” 

Chiaki’s words didn’t seem to affect Nagito, since both of them were unnaturally composed for a situation like this. “Haha, well, guess my luck made it so I missed them both, I mean, it was the reason why I was picked for this job.” 

“Yet you told me that you had finished the main hall, the extra room and kitchen. I’m not sure what type of luck you subscribe too, but the main hall is big and open, so it’s almost impossible to miss something from there and the kitchen is so small that it would be hard to miss something from there, even with all of the cupboards. Plus the extra room has even less things in it than the kitchen.” 

Nagito laughed at my points, loudly. “Oh Hajime, you truly don’t know luck then. It’s entirely possible to miss something as small as a knife or meat skewer sometimes.” 

We need to give another example. I need to prove he’s suspicious, or show his true intent and I believe this will prove his actions. “Then why is there a bunch of items connected to the plug in the extra room, hidden from view might I add. Monokuma couldn’t turn the lights off, so someone had to place those items there, and it was designed to overload the building, so the lights could go out!” I pointed my finger at him and waited for the accused to respond.

Silence was in the air, until Nagito started to cackle. “So you figured it out, indeed, I was the one who caused the power outage. It was pretty easy, considering how you all just left me there to do it.” 

I never expected this to come out of him. He seemed so nice, if not a little self loathing, but now he’s gone off the rails in a split second. I don’t think anyone could really say anything, but someone to my side was getting upset. “Ok, so two things. Why the hell would you plan a murder and how the hell did you do it?” Mahiru had a lot of emotions on her face, but the main ones I could see where shock and anger.

“Well, as for the why, it’s so then I can do what this school has always wanted. To create the brightest hope that could ever exist.”

“But isn’t hope generally known as the ability to expect the positive outcome despite the situation? How could anyone find hope in a situation where people are dying?” 

Sonia’s response was one with fear, fear and not much else. His laughter had turned into wheezing at this point, as if his breath was taken away by his insanity. “Isn’t that exactly it though, Princess? The brightest hope will shine through the greatest despair, if the darkest night of despair is achieved, then the brightest hope will bring about the new day and so the Ultimates of Hope’s Peak shall be the clock that strikes noon of this dark tale! The ones that survive this killing game will be the biggest beacons of hope the world has ever seen, making it so that the other hidden greatness will rise up and become beacons of hope. If I have to use myself as a stepping stone for this great hope to flourish, then it is not only my duty to do so, but I will take pride in the fact that I have changed the world, truly this was the purpose of letting someone as pathetic, trashful and talentless as I into this place.” His eyes were what caught my attention. They were spiraling, uncontrollably, like brainwashed cultists worshiping their god. 

Gundham was the first one to speak up. “If you are to be possessed by a demon, at least accept the fair maiden’s wishes and acknowledge her the way she wishes to be known.” He clearly was upset with his hamster’s hiding away from him, but I don’t think he has his priorities straight. 

“W-Well, Nagito is like this, t-then he must be the killer, r-right?” Mikan spoke up timidly, which is an interesting idea.

Then I heard a sigh from Mahiru. “Well, if he is, it’s not like we’ll get anything useful out of him, he’s clearly insane. But besides that, we can’t jump to conclusions just yet.” 

“Even so, Nagito is still important and we need to hear him out.” 

In response to Nekomaru, he began to speak somewhat normally again, normally by our standards anyway. “Oh wow, that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me since my mother.” 

“W-What? Have we really been that cruel to you Nagito?” 

“You’re acting like this dipshit doesn’t deserve to be called out.” Sonia and Fuyuhiko’s responses were polar opposites, but were still equally as upset with the situation. 

Still, we don’t have much time to be focusing on him right now. “Hey, let’s come back to him later. We might have more ideas for questions and there’s other things in this case that need to be uncovered.” Everyone thankfully nodded along, but nobody wanted to throw ideas out there. Then what should I suggest? I’ve got no ideas…

“If you’re going to suggest an idea, at least have that idea. Nagito might not have had the chance to kill Teruteru, depending who was in the area to kill him, even if he did turn out the lights. Let discuss who has the highest chance of killing him.” The annoyed tone came from Mahiru, which doesn’t surprise me anymore. 

Mikan then spoke up, surprisingly. “O-Oh, didn’t Gundham talk about going underground? Wouldn’t that give him a chance to stab him?” 

“H-Hold on, he did go underground, but that doesn’t prove anything!” 

“Yes, I was simply down there to look for the Hell Hound Earring, nothing more!” Sonia and Gundham went into a panic, which for the latter I wonder stand but not the former. Although she was helping him out, so I guess she believes in him.

“Hey, pig!” Everyone’s attention turned to Hiyoko. “Explain what you mean by that.”

“W-Well, there were a lot of stab wounds, right? Maybe he attacked from below with a meat skewer?” 

“That doesn’t make sense-” Mahiru responded to Mikan’s question, which was interrupted by the nurse. 

“I-I’m sorry, but your answer might be i-infected!” 

“W-What?”

“Please listen! I-I’m a nurse so I know what I’m talking about, but let me explain.”

“Hajime, be reliable and handle this!” Wait, what? Mahiru and Mikan began to argue but that was pushed onto me for some reason. 

“S-So I know you’re disagreeing with me…  
But I swear I’m telling the truth!  
Look at his wounds.  
They have to be hit with a meat skewer...  
From below, there’s no way otherwise!” I think I found what she was talking about.

“Sorry to cut in!” I accidently made everyone scared, which sucks, but I should just keep talking and get it over with. “You’d be right, if he was laying down. They go through his stomach and come out of his back, it’d be impossible to get an angle like that from below, since it would go through his legs and might not have been lethal anyway, unless he was laying down, so the knife would be the finishing blow.” 

“Well, is the knife the killing blow?” I took a second to think before shaking my head.

“Nope, there’s too little blood, especially from a wrist. Usually that’s where a lot of blood comes from, since it’s a vein. Good job Hajime.” Nagito spoke up, although I’m not sure if I like him praising me of all people. 

Whatever, I shouldn’t focus on it. I need to think, is there anything else I should think about. Something to do with the case that isn’t fully adding up… “Why did Teruteru have a nosebleed?” 

Everyone looked around, trying to figure this part of the puzzle out. Peko then spoke up. “The most likely outcome was that he was hit in the face really hard, although I don’t see any type of injury on his face.”

Nekomaru spoke up. “Well, maybe it was wiped off, although I’m not sure what could have been used.

“Well, there were a bunch of towels there, just give it a good old wipe down and boom, no more wounds!”

“That would get rid of the blood as well, wouldn’t it?”

“Oops, well maybe it kept on trickling down?” 

“You morons, he was sexually harassing a girl, that’s why he had a nosebleed! Don’t any of you watch cartoons?” Hiyoko interrupted Akane and Ibuki’s conversation in a rude way, but I think considering his personality, that is the most likely outcome. 

“Hiyoko’s right, I mean, Gundham’s testimony backs her up pretty well, as he heard as female scream.”

“Yeah, and I know who screamed!” Everyone turned towards Hiyoko, who was looking smug all of a sudden. “It’s that pig, Mikan!” Mikan’s face went white quickly. 

“W-What? I-I know everyone hates me b-but I wouldn’t murder someone, I promise!” Everyone turned to look at her and everyone also had varying expressions on their face.

“Hiyoko, I know you don’t like Mikan, but accusing her of murder is a little extreme.” Sonia was the first to speak up.

“I’m serious, out of everyone here, she’s the most likely to kill someone, especially with Gundham’s testimony.” Hiyoko was glaring at Mikan, but Mikan seemed to be the only person she wasn’t talking too.

Fuyuhiko looked annoyed, at this, which is understandable. “Yeah, and I’m the most loved person here. Get real, unless you have proof there’s no way that we’re going to believe you!” 

“Even so, we should at least hear her out and decide for ourselves. If someone has an idea and if they can prove it, it needs to be heard out.” Mahiru spoke up first.

“OK, let’s get more ideas!” Ibuki was supportive of this idea. Suppose I’ll give my approval.

“If she’s wrong, there’s not much loss and if she’s right, then we all live.” 

“I don’t know, Hiyoko has been pretty cruel to Mikan so far…” Sonia objected, since there were other voices, I’m assuming that Sonia’s side was large as well. 

“Hey, hey, you guys can’t decide if you’re right or wrong? That’s great, because it allows me to use my secret weapon. It’s scrum debate time!” Monokuma’s voice turned into one of pure joy as he slammed his toy hammer onto a big red button. Suddenly the screens on our podiums lit up, saying either “Listen to Hiyoko” or “Hiyoko’s wrong.” I picked the former option, because there’s literally nothing to lose by doing this. Soon enough, the podiums went up, and we were split into two separate groups. The group I found myself with included Hiyoko, Mahiru, Ibuki, Chiaki, Nekomaru and Byakuya. The rest had more members, which was surprising, but I don’t think it will be a major problem. I’ve just got to focus my argument well.

“H-Hiyoko’s clearly not a trustworthy source right now.” Sonia’s the first one to speak, with a slightly panicky voice.

“Right now nobody can really be trusted, everyone’s say is of equal importance here.” The red haired girl next to me however was as calm as a leaf in the stream.

Peko was just as calm as her, which still impresses me. “Even so, do we really have time to be listening to her?

“Monokuma has said nothing of a time limit, so we should have some time.” 

This caused the bear to speak up. “Well, you’ve got around 20 minutes left, since these are about an hour long, sorry for not mentioning it!” 

“S-Still, Hiyoko really hates me…” Mikan was beginning to cry, which is understandable.

Hiyoko groaned out at this. “I don’t hate you that much pig, if I truly despise you, I wouldn’t had warned you about Teruteru’s food being unhealthy.” I don’t think that really helps the situation but I suppose it’s better than her totally lying.

“Alright, but still, what if she’s completely fucking wrong?” Fuyuhiko was the last to talk, being a tiny bit calm, but annoyed. 

“Then there’s no loss, plus we might get more info either way. So I’d say we should do it, otherwise we’re going to be arguing about this and waste more time.” This point from me is what did it as they all agreed that it would be faster and easier to just hear her out. We all gave a nod and the podium came back down.

“Hmph, so we won. OK Hiyoko, so please explain why you think Mikan’s the killer.” 

She stood up proud and put her hands on her hips. “Simple, she’s being out of character, she’s spoken up a lot when in reality someone like her wouldn’t speak up at all!” The silence we all experience was something to behold. “W-What? You have to be observant when it comes to this kind of thing and I’ve been keeping an eye on everyone here…” 

“Hiyoko, people are much more than they appear, they can have secrets or things you don’t know about…” Chiaki quietly spoke up, to which Hiyoko screamed out something else.

“Yeah, like the fact that they’re a murder!” This is going nowhere fast.

“Great, so this all was a giant waste of time, morons, next time that gremlin has an opinion, make sure to double check if there’s any evidence going towards it.” Mikan was crying a little in the background as Fuyuhiko was getting upset. 

Still is there any evidence going towards Mikan being the killer? Come on, think…

As I thought, for some reason I ended up on a skateboard, which I’m not going to question anymore. “Is there any proof that someone went with Teruteru?” Yeah, Ibuki heard it. She has no reason to lie about that. Going down that path led me to another thought. “Is there any proof that it was a certain person, or to narrow down the choices?” Gundham said so himself. He heard a female scream. “Is there anything that could be used to narrow down the choices further?” Wait, maybe what Akane said. 

“Alright, it’s coming to me now!” Everyone suddenly turned to me, as I likely interrupted a conversation, so let’s get this over and done with. “Hey, Akane, what do you mean by the body smelling weird?” 

The gymnast then looked somewhat confused. “Oh, you know, it just has a strange smell to it. Most bodies don’t really smell like that, y’know. Normal bodies smell a lot less pleasant, although where I come from, it’s normal to find them on the road, since nobody really wants to move them. You all know what they smell like, right?”

“What the hell, no!” 

Monomi then also spoke up. “W-Wah? Why would you know all that? D-Do you need some help regarding your past?” 

“BWAHAHA, I love the smell of a dead body in the morning, and hopefully there’ll be some sides of rabbit to go along with the greatest smell!” The two plushes kept making quips, but they’re not important. 

“I’ve seen some before, but not to the extent you have.” Peko and Fuyuhiko were both equally as shocked at Akane, although Peko did a much better job at hiding hers.

“Well, have you smelt the weird smell before Akane?”

“No, don’t think so. Maybe it’s a smell that can only be found on this island.” What smell would be unusual though… 

Wait, earlier today, at the market… I took a deep breath as I prepared to die inside. “Akane, can you smell Ibuki?” 

“Hajime, what the hell?”

“And I thought Teruteru was the biggest perv here!” Mahiru and Hiyoko were both disgusted and I really can’t blame them. 

“Oh, Hajime, I didn’t know you liked that. Well, Ibuki is happy to help you out if that’s what needed.” However Ibuki seemed to want to do it, surprisingly enough.

”I-I can’t believe you’d agree to something like that. H-Hmph, if you wish to die without any dignity, then be my guest.” 

“As much as it disturbs me, I’d rather take that chance and live rather than die.”

“Yeah, besides I’m only looking for a certain smell, it’s nothing that unusual.” Akane then walked up to Ibuki and smelled her a bit. “Yeah, something about her smells like it, can’t put my finger on what though.” That almost confirms it for me, but from what I’ve seen of Ibuki, it’s possible she might have tripped and fallen onto some sort of substance.

“Hey Ibuki, have you been going anything that might involve you smelling differently from how you would normally do so?” 

This caused the girl to go into a thinking pose. “Hrm, well, Ibuki did get some perfume to make everyone attracted to her, but no, I don’t think so.” I just nodded my head.

However two other girls were shocked at this news. Mikan and Peko. “Oh, so you’re saying that Teruteru was visited by someone with that perfume on?” I nodded my head again. She then gave a small sigh. “It seems that this case is over and done with.”

“W-What?” Mikan was in tears at this point. 

“Hold on, Peko, why wouldn’t it be possible for you to be the murderer, or for someone else to get that spray?” Nagito then spoke up, being surprisingly confident, causing Peko to panic. 

“W-Well, for the second one, considering all the other evidence, it would be unlikely for anyone else to just so happen to grab the spray and use it to frame one of three people, but the other thing... “ Peko looked uncomfortable at the thought.

Mikan then spoke up. ”I-If you don’t have an alibi, t-then there’s still a chance that I might not have done it.” 

“I-I do have one.”

“Then spit it out Peko, or are you hiding something as well.” Nagito had a smug grin, while Peko was now sweating tons of bullets. 

“Oh, wait, are you talking about when I needed the bathroom through all of the black out and someone was already there. Oh yeah, I think that was you wasn’t it, you did go out at the same time as Hajime, hahaha.” Nekomaru spoke up, and Peko just flushed. 

“N-No, I’m not the killer, I swear! T-There’s still more evidence to go o-over!” Hiyoko to the side of me began to groan. Although the fact that Mikan switched the conversation so quickly is damning evidence. 

“We literally have you cornered at the wall and you’re still squealing? Just kneel over and die already!” 

“B-But without p-proof that I’ve done something wrong, y-you’re risking all of your lives!” 

Fuyuhiko was getting annoyed as well now. “Yeah, but out of everyone in this damn room, you’ve got the most evidence pointed towards you, by a large margin might I add.” 

“Please just let this end, extending this will only hurt us all more…” Sonia was incredibly upset, almost crying at this point.

“Looks like she’ll need some sort of evidence. Well I hope one of us has some sort of photographic memory.” For some reason I got the feeling that Mahiru was referring to me. 

Thankfully I do have some sort of memory. “Mikan did get some things wrong though. Her testimony doesn’t add up.”

A brief silence flew across the room. “Glad to see somebody else figured it out, indeed Mikan was lying about Teruteru not dying instantly, I don’t think anyone else has this much truth. Plus, someone had to get the bloody sheet, and it happened while Gundham was under ground.” Nagito had a neutral tone, calm as he could manage.

At this point Mikan was just sobbing. “There’s no other competition is there…”

“Indeed, it seems that this was the screaming maiden, the one who was attacked by Teruteru and sent him to hell.” Sonia and Gundham spoke up quietly. 

“N-No, I-I didn’t d-d-do it… I-If I did, explain how I did it…” 

Everyone just looked around. Somebody has to finish this. I just want this to be over. “The murder started eariler on at the party. Nagito had finished preparing the lights to shut down the power. I had to leave since I had a reaction to the food, but soon after I left, the power went out. The killer was lured by Teruteru into the kitchen, but they caught on, slashing him in self-defence, as shown by scratch marks on the wall. Teruteru pulled himself a little bit, maybe in some useless attempt to help, but it was too late. Then the blackened got a sheet, and closed the wall, just to make sure nobody followed her. She must had thrown the sheet into the spare room, before heading off to hide, until the lights came back on after Ibuki and Byakuya found the body.” This was done in a sombre quiet voice, please make it end.

“That doesn’t explain three things though. Why was the party held, why Teruteru lured her and where did the knife come from.” Everyone turned to look at Byakuya, who was clearly ashamed of himself now.

“I got a letter…” A letter? 

“You mean this one?” My calm response cut right through the quivering. 

“Y-Yes, h-how did you get it?” I simply handed it over to Mahiru. I’m not sure how she’d react, but I’m just too done to care. This could have easily been avoided if people bothered to look around. 

“Someone will die tonight?” Mahiru had a confused tone to her voice, which turned to annoyance. “Great, someone’s the Ultimate Clairvoyant in here. OK, what is this?”

“Wait, someone is? Well that bastard owes us money!”

“H-Hmph, it’s true. That note was sent to me. I didn’t know who sent it, however I couldn’t risk it being something serious.” Ignoring Fuyuhiko, Byakuya spoke up with an extremely saddened expression. 

“Well, who was the one to message you?” Akane spoke up, and all eyes lied on Nagito, who simply smiled.

“He cleaned the rooms as well, so he’s responsible for the knife, and he’s the only one who could had known where it was.” Chiaki spoke up next and Nagito’s expression didn’t change.

There was another wait. “So, are we just going to assume Nagito was behind everything. He’s kind of being a statue right now.” Nekomaru was the last to speak up. Mikan was just sobbing. We’ve proved beyond a doubt that she was the killer. 

“Well, this kind of fizzled out. I was really hoping this trial would be so much better as well, but it turned out to be super boring. Ah well, please vote for the person who you think did it, and we’ll get things finally finished up!” The screen changed to feature all of us and I pressed Mikan’s face. Soon, the voting reached it’s close and we all kept on watching, until a roulette played, spinning around and around. After the sparling continued for countless seconds, it landed on a pixel of a nurse. It was Mikan and we were all correct. Moving back onto real life, the girl was sobbing. She did just kill a person, but that isn’t making this situation any easier. “So congrats kids, you found out the killer. Irony all over this one, a nurse killing, seems like the classic horror trope now that I think about it. But why were you so quiet little sister?” 

“I-I couldn’t watch…” 

“Eh, well, at least you’ll be here for the main event, but first, why not have a little trivia death party to get to know the person you’re sending to their death.” The two plushes didn’t move from their location but nobody paid any attention to them, I mean, there’s no reason to acknowledge their existence. 

“Why did you do it Mikan?” Chiaki was the softest sound voice I’ve ever heard, and I think that’s needed right now.

The girl was on her shaky knees and clearly unable to move. “H-He attacked me…” 

“So, why not just run away? You clearly had the exit plan, so it clearly wasn’t entirely self-defence, you filthy pig.” 

“Nah, you can count that as defending yourself. If a guy came up to me to kill me, I’d do the same, better to protect others rather than just leaving them there to endanger others.” Everyone kind of looked at Akane with a confused look. What the hell was her childhood like?

“W-Well, yeah, but killing is wrong on all accounts…” Monomi spoke up, although nobody paid her any mind.

“I-I don’t want to die…” Mikan’s whimpers were hard to bear and I feel like I’m about to jump in front of whatever happens. 

“Well, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to make me happy. Like now you’ll get executed. Goodbye Nurse!~” Monokuma then gave a little wave before spamming the big red button, causing chains to get her and take her away. There was a hallway for us to walk into, as a longer one closed. The room we entered was a dark one, were it was almost impossible to see anything.

That is until the light shows up! The light shined on Mikan, who was currently placed upon a table, chained up. Monokuma ran onto the scene with a large amount of bandages, as both us and Mikan wondered what was going on. 

“The Oxy-Morons to the rescue! The execution of Mikan Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse.”

Monokuma then cut Mikan with a pair of weird looking scissors flinging blood everywhere as if it were sauce on a pan. The sweat, pained expression and tears told us that it was a huge amount of pain for her to go through. The monochrome bear then slowed down, putting his paw on his chin. Naive people would see this as him giving mercy, but I know better than that, everyone does. He rushes around her, flinging himself over and under, side to side. Like a dancer his movements were brisk, perfect and precise, getting everywhere without running out of bandages. Soon, the bandages dragged the nurse into the air, where we all got to look at her face. However, this is when we noticed she was going blue. As it turned out, Monokuma used perfect accuracy to wrap her up, so then she couldn’t breath. “Why looking so blue, maybe a laugh or two?” The robot plush then got some feathers and began tickling her for some unknown reason, which caused her to laugh and wriggle, wasting what little oxygen she had left. As soon as she stopped making noise, Monokuma shrugged and wrapped her head up, fully covering what remained of the once Ultimate Nurse. Monokuma then tried to keep pulling it closer and closer together until the bandages just collapsed into themselves, leaving a bloodied pile of guts and gore, with a dizzy ‘headmaster’ to back it up.

Everyone was shaken to the core, as we walked back to the trial grounds. “Wow, that was refreshing! Getting to do that to my lovely students is the greatest past time. Anyway, let’s go home sister, don’t want to keep our children waiting here too long!” 

“W-Wait, what?” Monomi was taken by Monokuma, hopefully to wherever they came from. 

I turned to glare at Nagito and walked up to him. “So, this is what you’re so called Hope is? Death? Murder? Something that you should be blamed for, that was your fault?” I could feel myself shaking, trying to keep myself from getting my own execution planned for me. 

“Well, someone had to do it, after all, if there’s no hardship, then hope can’t shine through. But there’s no point in me being a dirty liar, so I’ll just say right up. I was the one to find the body first, so I cut his wrist using the knife in the dining hall and I did let Teruteru know about the blackout, in case if he wanted to use my stepping stones.” He said all this with a smile, voice full of joy. However there was no response to him, how could we even speak up? There’s no reasoning with insanity. 

I can feel that sick feeling from earlier coming back right into my stomach, so I rushed to the elevator, where everyone else came soon after, without a word. What could be said, this shook us all to the core, and Nagito sure isn’t helping us out. After getting out, I rushed down to my room, to get some rest. This is going to be a painful two weeks...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Mikan's our first killer! Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of her character, never really liked Yanderes to be overly honest, they really creep me out and I think the meek timid type was done better by Chihiro, however since Chihiro's my favourite in the entire series, I might be a bit biased there. Sorry neither Teruteru or Mikan got much in this fic, two days is a little early for death, but I felt that this would make it a little more interesting. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, hope I didn't do bad and see you next time! Also criticism and comments and stuff like that are apricated.


	5. Day 3: The second island opens for business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second island is opened up and so now is the time for exploring, then Hajime gets to chat with a certain angry small person.

*DING DONG* “It’s now 7am. Get ready for another beautiful day in your paradise.”

The announcement forced its way into my room and woke me up, which on a normal day would simply be annoying and nothing more, but here it just hurts, especially in my eyes. We went to bed super late, so I’ve gotten 5 hours of sleep, at best. Suppose I should get ready. 

Going into the bathroom, I had to take a close look at myself. The thing that struck me the most was that my eyes were bloodshot and wet, along with the rest of my face. Was I sobbing throughout the night? 

Never mind, I’m not going out like this. Not worth the trouble right now and if I went out, I'm sure some people would make fun of me for crying or something, despite the fact I think I’m justified in feeling a little bit upset. I went right back to bed and thankfully sleep came fast for me.

“HEY HAJIME!” A loud yell forced me out of bed, as I turned in horror to see Ibuki was in my room. 

“I-Ibuki? What are you doing here?” 

“I came through the door,” The door was clearly opened, and barely hanging. 

Her face was one of pure joy and excitement, which is extremely scary to me. “Ibuki?” She turned to me. “What? Did. You. Do. To. My. Door?” 

Instead of being how she usually is, a sheepish look crawled on her face. “Well, I couldn’t exactly wake you up, even though I was being super loud, so I just came into your room.” This did nothing to answer my question. 

“Ibuki, did you break down my door?”

“Yep.” Her sheepish look didn’t go away, sadly for me. 

I don’t even know what goes on through that girl’s head… “One thing at a time. Why did you even come to my room to break the door down? Wait no, why did you break my door down to come into my room, what was your motive for coming to see me?” 

“Ibuki wanted to see if you were OK! Plus, Mahiru asked me to get you, so I came to see you.” Of course Mahiru is the one behind this. Alright, let’s change the subject.

I took a sigh, before speaking up. “Listen, tell nobody that you broke my door, OK? I could be in danger otherwise.” 

“Okay!” Ibuki didn’t seem to mind. Thank goodness. “Hey, Hajimeeee? Could we go now, Mahiru’s gonna pout again if we don’t.” She’s gonna pout? What does that mean? 

I guess it’s not important. “Sure, we can go.” Ibuki then ran off, dragging me along with her. As I was basically kidnapped, I saw Fuyuhiko walking out, although I’m not sure if he heard everything, or anything. 

Sonia ran towards us in a panic. “Oh thank goodness, I thought Ibuki was going to disturb you Hajime… What happened to your door?” I simply looked at Ibuki. “Oh no. Let’s just pretend that this didn’t happen.”

“Well Hajime told me to keep it a secret so OK!” Ibuki seemed pretty joyful, while Sonia just walked with us, looking more exhausted than she did a few seconds ago.

Soon I was taken into the restaurant, where people were waiting, and it just so happened that the only seat not taken was the one next to Mahiru. Why are people like this? I just slumped into my seat, waiting for something to happen. “Geez, you look so tired... Why don’t you take any responsibility for making sure you’re taking care of yourself?” I just didn’t acknowledge her, because she’d get annoyed at me for the truth. 

Nobody knew what to do, so Sonia stood up. “Hello, I guess this is all of us that are going to show up today.”

“Hold on, where’s that demon that babblers on about hope? We can’t just let him be on his own, he’s established himself as a threat to all of us.” Panic erupted from just Gundham’s quiet worry.

Peko jumped from her seat and began to rush outside. “I’m going after him!” 

“Hold on. Let’s think about it logically, who was the last one to see him…” I turned my head to Byakuya, who I just realised was here, since all I saw was a giant depressed blob.

Peko then turned sharply. “That’s not going to help, nobody has seen him since the trial!”

“Y-Yeah, haven’t seen him at all!” We all turned to Kazuichi, who was looking pretty suspicious right about now. “W-What, it’s not like I tied him up or something!” 

“Where did you leave him?” 

“I-I didn’t tie him up! Nekomaru help me out here!”

“D-Don’t bring me into this!” We now turned to the panicking giant, who was not doing a good job of hiding his own guilt. After a few seconds of staring, they caved in. “We tied him up and left him in the Main Hall of the unused building. That’s where he placed the knife, so it seemed fitting, let him think about his actions.” He didn’t calm down much, just enough to explain his actions. 

“Why did you two think that would be a good idea?” 

Kazuichi leapt up in shock of this comment. “We’ve taken him and put him in a place where he can’t hurt any of us, how is that a bad thing?” 

“Well you moron, what happens if he dies? On the bright side, at least we’ll be another idiot down with the trial, thank god for that.” We all suddenly shifted to look at Hiyoko, who was grinning. She was right, he could die because of his, but her last comment was what really caught our attention. 

“I-It’s going to be best for you to explain yourself Ms. Saionji…” 

Hiyoko rolled her eyes at Byakuya’s words, before speaking up herself. “Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t feel good when two jerks are taken off the playing field for good. Makes things safer for the rest of us. Plus, it shows that some people are just useless and shouldn’t be heard.” I know Hiyoko was a jerk, but her shrunken eyes and her smiling face while she softly spoke made the whole thing more terrifying, especially because she turned to glare at Byakuya while she said this, without moving her body.

“While I do agree with some of what you said, I don’t think you should vocalise it like that.” 

“What, because some of these wimps can’t handle the truth? I’m not going to be an annoying liar or anything, we’re safer now that they’re gone and that’s a fact.” 

“You cannot say that for certain! The fact that even some of us were willing to go to such extremes is a worrying thought within itself…” Peko and Sonia both spoke up about Hiyoko’s words, although the girl was pretty rude about it. 

“She’s not wrong.” Akane once again spoke up, with her mouth full. “We’ve seen what Monokuma would do to us if we attempted to murder. Sure, maybe some people might work together, but they’d be killing multiple people. Right now we’re safer than ever…” Akane suddenly stopped, in both the speaking department and the eating department. Her face darted around in all directions, before looking uncomfortable. “W-What is that smell?”

Everyone turned around and began to sniff around as more people started to look uncomfortable. I think I’ll just breathe through my mouth, it seems safer that way. Everyone soon turned their attention to Hiyoko.

Her confidence suddenly got swept away, as we turned to look at her. “Hey, Hiyoko why do you stink so much?” Ibuki put it a bit more bluntly than most would like, but it seemed like people were mostly agreeing with her. 

“H-Hey, y-you can’t just pin t-this on me! A-Akane is eating with her hands, maybe it’s her!” The dancer was stammering at this point.

“Hmph, while you may try to argue with words, nothing you could ever hope to do will change the truth, as the Four Dark Devas of Destruction know the truth, as the stench from you causes even them to cower!” 

“What are a bunch of rats going to prove? They stink all the time, living in filth, they can’t smell anything!” 

“How dare you think such things, they are demons, they cannot eat trash, unlike you who clearly doesn’t know what you even smell like!“ Hiyoko and Gundham started arguing with the glares that were handed out being intense. 

“Hmph, even though you can dish out insults to others, it seems you cannot take it yourself.” 

“S-Shut up!” 

Byakuya also got a dig into her, although he didn’t seem very excited nor happy about the situation. 

I heard a sigh next to me, and turning, Mahiru wasn’t exactly pleased with the current situation. “Hiyoko, why do you smell like this? While your talent as a traditional dancer does mean you have to take part in a lot of exercise, you still should not be like this in the morning, unless you for some reason got up early, which I have to say isn’t a good idea if you haven’t done it before.” Nekomaru was trying to be polite, while still being very loud. 

“I-I-I can’t get my kimono on, s-so I just didn’t take it off and hoped nobody would notice…” Hiyoko had lost all of her confidence, flushed down the drain.

“Enough.” A cold voice sent a chill down our spine, and it came from Mahiru, who had a stoic look. “It’s shameful that you all think ganging up on her is something that you should do. This will do nobody any good.” 

“With all due respect Mahiru, she did the same thing to Mikan…” 

“And none of you helped her out, did you?” The silence that followed answered her question. “That’s what I thought. If we just let arguments bloom, it’ll just end in our doom. Besides, it’s not like she doesn’t have a point. Teruteru did poison a few of us and while I am sympathetic towards Mikan, what Akane said yesterday still holds up, she could have tried to escape, since she was near the door.” She then turned to Hiyoko and knelt to her height. “How about we hang out, I’ll help you with tying and untying your kimono, OK?” 

“Really, you’ll do that?” A short nod from Mahiru was all Hiyoko needed. “Yay! Come on, let’s go play now!” Hiyoko took Mahiru and ran off, which caused everyone else to not really have anything else to say or if they did, I didn’t pay attention. Food’s more important and then bed. 

“H-Hello!” Monomi appeared somewhere, sounding more chipper than usual.

“Hey Usami, is there something you need?” Chiaki spoke up for what felt like the first time this morning. Out of everyone here, why didn’t she say anything?

“W-Well yes! You can now visit the second island!” 

“How? Isn’t there those Monobeasts in the way? Nobody could take those things out.” I had completely forgotten about those things as Peko spoke up. 

The rabbit made sounds of nervousness which was awful background music to say the least. “Because I-I’m magic… The why doesn't matter right now, just go ex-explore, OK?” Then Monomi disappeared.

“Man, for being a toy, it sure does sweat a lot, even more than everyone at a music festival.” 

After listening to Ibuki’s incredible fact and finishing my meal, I wandered off back to my bed. I know the extra areas are there, but I don’t want to. I just don't want to anymore. 

*Knock Knock* This time, a knock on the door was able to wake me up, which I guess makes sense, my door is kind of in a bad place right now. I wandered over to the door, to find none other than Mahiru there, which raises several questions. “I thought you were with Hiyoko.” She turned her head down to the ground, and to the side.

“I was. For a few hours now.” A few hours? Huh, kind of impressive that anyone could stand being with either of them for so long. “What about you, you’ve been slacking off haven’t you?” Her eyes darted right towards me and I didn’t respond. I mean, it’s not like she’d listen to me either way. “Come on, I’ll take you around the island, maybe there’ll be something I didn’t notice before.” I noticed my hand getting held and dragged around. 

We arrived on the second island and it’s kind of a nice change of pace. Compared to the more open island of the first, this one had more of a populated vibe to it. There’s no one here, but maybe it’s because of the extra buildings or it could just be because it’s a new area. 

The first area I saw was a pharmacy, which is upsetting to think about considering what happened with Mikan. Nobody was in at the moment, so we just continued on our way, although I might go back there later. We walked along the island, in peace until we arrived at a library. Heading inside, we saw four people in there, Byakuya sulking with a book, Sonia and Gundham reading a book, and Peko simply sitting down. “Oh, hello Hajime and Mahiru! I’ve learnt something interesting about this island that I think you should know about!” 

We wandered over to the princess to see she was looking at a pamphlet about the exact island we were at. “I assume it has nothing to do with how we can get out of here?” 

“Sorry Mahiru, but it does not. Although it does raise a few questions. A lot of these statements imply that there should be a population on this island, such as staff.” 

“So what you’re saying is that you think that for some reason everyone who should be here, isn’t?”

Sonia took a second to think. “I suppose that is a good way of saying it, yes. I worry for those people who have been taken.”

“I blame Monokuma and that Rabbit. They likely had something to do with it, after all, they did kidnap all of us.” The audible sigh came from Mahiru. Her face then underwent a speedy transformation to one of shock very quickly, as she had inadvertently turned her head to Gundham’s direction, who was playing with his hamsters. “W-What the heck are you reading?” I tilted my head to where Mahiru was looking and saw a pile of books on serial killers. Somehow I’m not surprised.

“These are not for me, but for the maiden in front of me.” He was referring to Sonia which was a little bit more of a surprise. Mahiru’s face was now a mix of disgruntled and confused.

“I’ve tried to explain why serial killers are not to be looked up to, but she doesn’t seem to understand.” 

“She was talking about this so-called serial killer who always wears a mask to hide themselves. Hmph, people who hide their identity are cowards if you ask me.” Peko and then Byakuya spoke up, while Sonia just remained smiling.

“The masked demon wore one that looked just like that one.” Gundham pointed to a mask on the table. “It seems that the mask has duplicated itself and is now looking for new hosts to start killing. Fortinally, with a simple spell, I should be able to defuse the curse, for it is no match for the Supreme Overlord of Ice.” 

“Wonderful. Anyway, Sonia, why are you looking at serial killers?” I turned my attention to Sonia, who was just looking at Gundham with a blissful look in her eye.

Sonia then made a thinking pose as she thought about her answer, until she got an answer. “Well, isn’t it interesting to see the psyche of someone who’s willing to murder so much? Like most people detest the idea of murder and yet these people are doing it not for survival, but for fun.” Her smile didn’t leave her face, which raised several concerns. 

“Well, why not ask Nagito or Fuyuhiko? They both seem pretty willing to go out and murder.” 

“I do not think Fuyuhiko has killed anyone personally, judging by his size and demeanour and Nagito is an option, however I’m not sure if he’s more willing to kill personally, or if his whole worldview revolves around this so called hope of his.” 

“Well, whatever, it’s not my business to worry about this, although I’m curious, ever since the party, which admittedly wasn’t that long ago, you two have been close, do you guys want to talk about that?” Mahiru’s vocal wondering admittedly did catch my curiosity although Sonia didn’t seem to change her expression. 

“Well, similar to you and Hajime, we thought that developing trust would be a smart idea, so I approached him and as it turns out he’s very knowledgeable about lots of topics and fun to talk to. Say, do you think we should get closer?” Sonia had a hopeful, for lack of a better word, glint in her eye, which saddens me that I have to be the one to put it out, since nobody else began to speak up.

“No. While developing relationships is important, what happens if the other person doesn’t have your best interests in mind or gets hurt, then that would also have negative impacts on you. At least give it time to develop until you feel you can trust each other to the fullest.” 

“I suppose that is the most logical course of action. It feels weird though, the more time I spend with Gundham, the more connected I feel with him, like I’ve been with him for longer than this short amount of time.” While Sonia seemed upset, I can’t help but relate to that last point. I don’t know why, but the more time I spend with people, the more I grow closer to them. 

“Well, I don’t want to be here all day, so let’s keep exploring.” I nodded to Mahiru and walked off. I don’t have any plans here anyway, so there’s no real meaning to stay at this location. We walked over to a beach and diner area. 

“Let’s hit the beach first, it’ll be quicker that way.” Mahiru nodded at the suggestion and we went over to the beach called ‘Chandler Beach‘.

There we saw an interesting sight at this site. Ibuki was being loud, which is hardly unusual, but the thing that we noticed was Akane and Nekomaru having a brawl! Akane was speeding along the ground, using a High Jump Kick on Nekomaru, but he instinctively dodged without even trying. “You have good reflexes, but your tactics leave much to be desired, this battle is over.” Then he winded back and uppercutted Akane so hard that I think I saw some blood coming out of her mouth, although I’m not totally certain. 

“And that’s a KO! Akane might be dead from that punch, at least I think so because wow, I felt that!” 

Nekomaru suddenly turned in a slight panic, but trying to keep his composed nature. “O-OK, first She isn’t dead! S-Second, before anyone gets upset, she quite literally asked for this, so she knew what she was getting into.” I could tell from Mahiru’s face she was annoyed, but she knew she had no argument to back herself up now. I simply looked around the beach and apart from the usual locations I expect from a place of this style, there was also a beach house, which I’m not totally sure why it’s here, but maybe it’s just used for changing and showering. That doesn’t explain why one wouldn’t be on the first island though…

“Hey, Hajime! You look kind of worried about the bathhouse! Sorry to disappoint, but I’ve already tried the shower but the Wacky Wabbit told me that the showers don’t work.”

“Why did you want to go in the shower anyway?” 

“That wasn’t what I was suspicious about. Whatever, it’s most likely just nothing.” I walked off, trying to just take my mind off things. Why of all things, is a bathhouse suspicious to me? 

I noticed a diner, which means I haven’t wandered off far. Wouldn’t hurt to take a sneak peak, although I’ll be coming back here later.

Inside I noticed Fuyuhiko sulking and Kazuichi just drinking soda. There wasn’t anything unusual about the diner, it’s got a griller, fridge and tables all coated in a orange like colour. 

There’s not much more of this island to explore now. 

Back on the sand, I noticed a giant vault, with Chiaki standing in front, trying not to fall asleep. I won’t disturb her. The gun there was a sight to behold, I’m pretty sure it’s weight alone would be able to kill any of us, and with it’s fire, well it seems like any unlucky person would get mowed down in seconds by this machine gun. 

“The Japanese Katakana on that vault. It says Future.” Mahiru happened to be here as well, guess I was too busy gawking at the gun to notice.

“Monokuma said he wanted to talk about this to us… But there wasn’t anyone here but me so he’s gonna save it for another time…” Both of them don’t seem too concerned with this, but Monokuma’s going to be appearing again… 

Well, I’m not risking anything to do with that lock, especially since I don’t think that gun is for show. 

There doesn’t seem to be anything else left to explore on this island. “Hey, what are you planning on doing now Mahiru?” 

“I think I’ll go see where Hiyoko is. She hasn’t been anywhere on this island and I think she likes hanging around me so I might as well try to please her.” 

“Well good luck with that.” My comment made Mahiru’s neutral look turn into a pout and now it’s making everything feel kind of awkward, I don’t know why though. “I’ll head off to eat some food then.. I think you’ll get more use out if this than I.” 

**Give a present!**

I gave her the 82. Japanese Tea Cup and her face switched to shock. “I-I, err. T-Thank you, I guess… Guess you’re more perspective than you look.” She walked off, holding her cup tight. Guess she doesn’t want to drop it. 

Well, that doesn’t bother me. Let’s go get some food. The diner was empty, outside of Fuyuhiko, who simply looked annoyed. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

“Getting food. I’m hungry, I’ve had a long day.” 

I heard the young man make a grumble, before crossing his arms. “Now you’re sounding like that moron Akane or the so called leader who crumbled within seconds.” 

“Well, at least he attempted to do something, unlike you who’s sitting and complaining.” Opening the freezer, I saw that there’s a lot to choose from here. 

“Not like it’ll make much of a difference either way, dumbass.” 

The fridge next to me had a lot of snacks and drinks, which is always nice compared to Fuyuhiko’s harsh tone at least. “Why’s that? Also side note, do you want a drink or something?” 

I just noticed Fuyuhiko was eating some food, but at least he was kind enough to finish his mouthful before talking, which always helps out when trying to not be rude, although clearly that’s not his full intentions for doing that. “Because love and friendship isn’t going to get any of you out of here. Right now, all we can do is to assume that Monokuma is as powerful as he lets on to be, because we’ve seen it with our own eyes. All of us were fucking kidnapped, do you think they’ll just let us out because we’re all friends or something, because that’s just moronic.” His tone started off serious then grew more and more shouty as he spoke, clearly an indicator of frustration, which I can’t blame him for. “Also, what drinks do they have?” His tone switched from anger to curiosity in an instant. People’s who’s moods switch fast while talking are hard to deal with.

“Let’s see. Water, Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Soda, Milk-”

“NOT FUCKING MILK!” He slammed his hands down on the table and screamed, to which I turned around. Then slumping back on his chair, he spoke with about as much pride as he looked in his current position. “I’ll take some apple juice.” I got one apple juice and one orange juice out for each of us then threw the meal into the grill and set the timer, before walking down to drop off my order.

“Even so, Monomi did say that the original goal was for us all to come together, so we’re getting extremely mixed messages here.”

“I can’t believe you’d trust that freak of nature. Trust me, it’s easy to act differently to how you truly feel.”

“Why would you know any of that?”

My innocent question was responded with an angry slam to the table. “B-Because you asshole, I’m the Ultimate Yazuka! There’s shit tons of people who just want to use you or get on your good side. You can’t trust anybody in this world you don’t know, and even with the people you know, unless you’re extremely close, don’t trust them either!” 

I sipped from my drink, without much care. “So, you’re saying not to trust anyone, especially not here where we all have two weeks until we die and people murdering each other is to be expected?” 

He began to calm down, which is nice, maybe now I’ll get a conversation with him. “Duh. It’s not rocket science. The easiest way to get to kill someone is to get close to them and stab them right where it hurts, or… work together to save one of them…” His voice grew quiet as he said that last part. I suppose it is true though. In a game like this, if two people really cared for one another, they would consider the possibility of doing it. *DING* “I think your food’s done.” I rushed over to the food and got everything out and prepared, before putting it all on a plate and adding the conderments to finish the job. 

As I ate, I decided to continue the conversation. “So, do you think that someone would even pull that off… Or would you be able to handle the fact that you killed over a dozen lives to escape?” 

“Of course I would. Ultimate Yakuza remember? I have more people killed within a single day than we have on this island!” A silence blew over us after his antagonism. Mainly because I needed to finish my mouthful. 

“Then why haven’t you done it yet? Is it because you need more time to plan?” 

This time he took a second to think about his answer. “Yeah.” 

I think it would be good to continue my onslaught of questions for him. “If you’re so concerned about not trusting people, why are you talking to me so much?” His face contorted as I think he tried to wrap his mind around an answer, but he eventually landed on nothing. “Alright. If you think the best idea is to get close to people to stab them in the back, or to get close and then have someone lay over the wire for you, then why haven’t you done it yet?”

“I’m not a moron, you dumbass. If I made connections with others, people would instantly suspect it was me. The best friends that could never hurt each other trope don't exist. That’s just a fantasy, one that could never exist, besides, if I suddenly tried to be friendly to you losers, wouldn’t that be even more suspicious?” He raises a good point and I can see where he’s coming from, although that does raise some thoughts… “Well, whatever. I won’t disturb your eating anymore. You’re an awful eater, that’s for sure. Thanks for the drink though, when I get out of here, I’ll try and make your death painless.” With that he left the scene, although his last comment did leave me uneasy, for some reason, not as uneasy as it should have done. 

After finishing my food, I went back to my room and went to bed, waiting for the next day to arrive. It’s been a long one that’s for sure. 

*DING DONG* For once that’s not my door… Oh god that’s not my door. “Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. Please head over to the park on the central island ASAP as I have a wonderful announcement for you all!” Monokuma’s voice rang through the area and it wasn’t an announcement that I could just put today behind me and look forward to tomorrow. 

As what seemed to be the norm at this point, I was the last to arrive, outside of Nagito who couldn’t come.

I noticed there was a stage there, a giant machine with a timer running down and an arcade. Upon the stage, two mechanical monsters made their appearance one looking a little bit more excited than the other. “Welcome my lovely students, Monokuma, your headmaster is here today with a new announcement! Can you guess what it’s about?” The bear pointed at us and with the second sentence had a voice that was extremely patronising, much to several groans in the audience. 

Chiaki was one of the few that didn’t seem to worry much about the patronising bear however, and you know what, good for her. “Oh, is it that arcade?” Her eyes were gleaming with happiness. Guess the Ultimate Gamer’s gotta have games to play.

“Correctamondo! That’s not all though, as it’s the fifth game in the wonderful Twilight Syndrome series, Twilight Syndrome Murder Case!” I noticed that he stood proud while most of us were very confused, to which Chiaki spoke up.

“It’s an adventure series known for its 3D sound, therefore being able to make the player truly feel like they’re in their world, which is an experience that back when the series was popular and still is both a technical marvel as well as an enjoyable one, although now Monokuma’s likely soiled the series with his gritty paws.” 

“HEY, I would not ruin a series that I care beary deeply about. Can’t you just bear with me for this one time, being a game developer is an extremely hard task…” 

Interesting, that does raise a few points. “So it’s created by someone with a passion for the series. Couldn’t it be considered a fan game then, or at least a fan made project?”

“W-What, of course not! Why would my genius be compared to something as bad as those, only the creator knows how to use their own property right, just like me!” This caused Monokuma to become very defensive, not sure why though.

“Well, I’m not saying fan projects are bad prese, but it’s easy for us to disregard it if it’s not good then right, so I don’t see it as ruining the series.” I was mainly looking at Chiaki, who seemed upset right now.

This did little to ease her though, judging at how her expression remained as it was. “Even so, why would he do this to this series? I'd prefer it if he made his own original content at least. Then he’s not dragged down by the name or the characters that have to be there.”

“Eh, I’ve seen fan games that have introduced people to the series, so that’s a plus to it all. Along with that, some people give full support for fan games, which is only good for customer and creator relations.” 

“Hellooo, I’ve never heard of this series before? Can you introduce me to it Chiaki?” Ibuki then waved to Chiaki, who turned to acknowledge her. 

She took a second to think. “These types of series are hard to replay, and I don’t think you would enjoy the series much…” 

“What? Come on Chiaki, adventure games are awesome, you get to run around a huge world fighting bad guys and solving puzzles!” 

“I think you’re thinking of an action adventure series. These games tend to not have as much combat and are less gameplay focused and more story focused from what I know, more in the style of visual novels, and I don’t think you’d be a big fan of those types of games…” Me and Chiaki had serene expressions which contrasted greatly with Ibuki’s energy. 

“Hmph, do you think that this talk is really important right now?”

“Yes!” All three of us darted our gazes toward Byakuya, who’s confidence suddenly rose then shrunk just as fast. 

“Can I continue with my point now…” Monokuma seemed dejected, and Chiaki yawned. “OK, gonna take that as a yes. So then, this is in fact your new motive, so please have fun with this new game I made!”

“How did you make a game in such a short time, or without fingers… And where did you get the assets from?” Monomi spoke up and got uppercutted for her troubles. 

“If you think we’re going to fall for your deceptions you’re wrong demon!” Gundham yelled out these words with a fiery passion, his hamsters burning with anger towards the beast. 

Monokuma then began to glare at us, putting his paw up. “I don’t even need to give you a motive to start killing, so someone’s going to bite the carrot and it will be a good catch for me! BWAHAHAHA! Also it’s night time now so just go and sleep or whatever you kids do.” Monokuma cackled at Gundham’s words, before disappearing with Monomi, holding her by her ear. 

Now the silence we were all left in was concerning. Until someone spoke up. “Although I am in no position to talk. If I may offer some advice, we should not use this. I fell victim to a motive for murder, simular to this one, and I do not wish for it to happen again.” Byakuya was the first to speak and break the silence. 

“Yeah. This is designed to get us to kill each other. Let’s just leave it alone and come up with a smarter plan to get off this island before anyone else gets hurt. So you all need to be reliable, get that!” Mahiru was the next one to speak up, in an annoyed tone, which yeah, Monokuma is annoying.

“While I don’t believe outright refusing information is a good thing, we should leave it until tomorrow to decide what to do. It’s late anyway.” Peko was the last to speak up and we all agreed, walking away. 

I turned to go to the second island, might as well check something, while I’m up anyway. The pharmacy was still open, which makes sense, not like anyone’s going to be using this place and there’s no law enforcement to stop any thieves. I switched on the light and searched the area. There were the weirdest types of medicine, tons I’ve never heard of with weird effects. Relaxers for every muscle in the human body, even the ones that I’m sure can’t be relaxed, poisons as far as the eye could see, it was unnerving to say the least. But whatever, there’s nothing here for me anyway. 

As I walked to the middle aisle, my head turned to a sneaker, not entirely invisible, but I couldn’t tell who they were since I only got a glance of them before they made their way to Central Park.

Like a stray cat in an alleyway, my curiosity gripped me tighter than I expected and so I walked to the park. Inside the dim park, I saw someone I never expected to see take the bait. Chiaki. 

“Hey, it’s late. You should be sleeping.” The girl reacted to my voice, although it wasn’t much of a reaction, more of something that made her realise I was there.

A little bit of silence after my quiet words allowed her to think up an answer. “I don’t want to just leave this… If I don’t take a look at this, someone else might do.” We stood in silence for a few seconds, as I tried to think of a response.

A breath came out of my mouth. “Alright, I’ll help you out. It’s better for more than one of us to do it and this way if any info is revealed, we can decide what to do.” The Gamer had a small smile and so we both made our way to the arcade. 

The arcade machine was something you’d find in an arcade as it was a big bulky beast, but strangely gave me a nostalgic feeling. Chiaki turned it on and the screen lit up only to go to a black title screen, with the exact title Monokuma gave, ‘Twilight Syndrome Murder Case!’ 

“I’ll play if that’s OK.” I gave Chiaki a nod to accept her request and she continued. “Alright, let’s get this ball rolling.” She presses the start button and the screen changes to a 2D view of a character with purple hair, with a bit of white text saying “Day 2” appearing before disappearing just as fast. 

Before everything else though, a text box appeared on the screen. “This recreation has been trimmed down for viewer experience, so if things seem convitred, don’t worry, I’ll just kill you.” Great, now he’s threatening us with death if we don’t enjoy his product. Sounds like every awful creator out there.

Girl A (Timidly): A-Ahh! I-I’m so late, they’re all going to hate me… 

Chiaki moved her character out of the classroom and looked around the game, hoping to explore some clues, however it seems that all of the other doors are locked, so she just kept on going. 

Downstairs, they saw 3 other girls, one short one with yellow hair, one taller one with red hair and the last one having black hair.

Girl A (Panicked): I-I’m sorry I’m late! 

Girl B (Upset): You should be, waiting in this place is creeping me out. I know this is where we practically live now, but they do not make it comforting, and your existence is only making it worse! 

Girl C (Excited): Well, I’m bored, but now we’re all here so we can go out now, right?

Girl D (Neutral): No, we’re still waiting for Girl E, but if you’re bored, why not stand over there for a second?

Girl C (Innocently): OK!

Girl C walked over to the yellowed and purple haired girl, who were B and A, making D the redhead. Then Girl D took a picture.

Girl A (Scared): Eeek! W-Why would you do that?

Girl B (Annoyed): Yeah, why would you put me with her in a picture?

Girl D (Happily): Because. It’s always fun taking pictures of you guys!

Then another girl ran up to them, a girl with a tree coloured hair. 

Girl E (Terrified): G-Guys, you’re here! 

She mimicked a tried pose, which wasn’t the greatest with the low quality visuals but I’m not to judge. 

Girl A (Scared): Y-Yeah, I’m here… What did you guys want to talk about…

Girl B (Confused): You’re telling me you didn’t read the newspaper, sheesh. 

Girl C (Helpful): Well, here’s the thing we’re talking about, I didn’t really read it myself. 

In the newspaper, there was a dead girl, next to a broken fish tank and a pile of rocks, in addition to a piece of cloth, a disturbing scene that Chiaki didn’t pay too much mind. What weirded me out though was that the picture was detailed, too detailed for this type of game.

Girl A (Worried): W-We were the ones to find that body you know… Did we do the right thing about not getting involved?

Girl B (Angry): Of course! Listen, we’re just high schoolers you moron! They would have found it anyway. 

Girl C (Inquisitive): I don’t know, something like that could lead to a severe miscarriage of justice. We should have at least given an anonymous tip or something like in those cool detective shows.

Girl E (Fuming): You masochists! All we did was not report a dead body we discovered, that’s barely a crime (I think). Why would you want to subject to something like that, who cares about anything else, what happens if we’re caught instead, right Girl D?

Girl D (Sweating Nervously): A-Actually, I’ve got a few photos of the situation…

Girl E (Panicking): W-What? Give me that! 

Girl E snatched something from Girl D and then we heard a high quality rip sound. 

Girl E (Annoyed then calm): Delete any other photos of this! We’re not getting involved in all of this, OK? Sorry, just, this is kind of stressful. Let’s go home, it’s late and I don’t want to hurt any of your feelings.

Girl D (Slightly upset): Yeah, that’s fine. This is a stressful situation and I don’t blame you. Let’s go home everyone. See you soon!

The girls all split up and the screen fades to black as if to indicate a jump cut. 

Next we see Girl E by herself, seemingly ready to go home.

Voice (Menacingly): I won't...let you...forget…

Girl E (Scared): W-What…?

Voice (Same as the previous): I won't...let you...forget…

Girl E (Even more scared): I-I’ve done n-nothing wrong…

Voice (Same): I won't...let you...forget…

Girl E (Screaming in fear): FORGIVEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEE!

Voice (still menacing): Never… I will never forgive you! You’re going to pay…

The screen cut to black, with blood trailing down from the top of it…

Then a bloodied Day 4 appeared, with us back on the view of Girl A, who was walking to the others who were all sweating.

Girl A (Worried): G-Guys? W-What’s going on…? 

Girl D (Scared): I-I think you should see for yourself. 

The girls moved out of the way as Chiaki walked Girl A into the room, to find Girl E dead, next to a metal cricket bat, covered in blood. Then the game instantly cut to black with “GAME OVER” and underneath it said “Down Five”

What could down five mean… Does that mean five people have to die for us to know the truth…? Chiaki simply tilted the stick down five times, causing a new title screen to appear, with the words “Truth Edition” to appear. “Oh.” The little noise came out of my mouth.

Chiaki then spoke up. “Hey Hajime, do you have a favourite character yet?”

That’s a weird question. Who do I like most out of these characters… “I’d say either Girl D or Girl C, I’d have to see more, what about you?” 

Before she could answer, more words appeared on the screen, almost like a scroll for a credits. 

“We open with a specific murder case.

A tragic killing that occurred within the grounds of the academy that the girls attended.

Based on their understanding of the crime scene, the police ruled that the incident was the work of a pervert who snuck into the school grounds.

However, there was a secret behind that incident. Even before the janitor first discovered the body, there were students who witnessed the crime itself.

The students were five high school girls

They didn't want to get involved in the incident, so they tried to hide the fact that they were the first to discover it.

Several days after the incident...

One of the five girls, Girl E, is murdered by someone.

What in the world happened at this once peaceful academy...?

By playing the missing "1st Day" and "3rd Day," , you will be able to understand that mystery.

All the answers you seek are hidden in this Truth Edition.

Will you be able to reach the truth?

Now then, let's start with the "1st Day," when it all began.”

Day 1 appeared on the screen, as Girl A ran up to the scene along with B, C and D.

Girl B (Annoyed): You’re late, a pig stain like you is always late! God, why are you so useless all the time! 

Girl A (Saddened): I-I’m sorry…

Girl D (Calm): Hey, why don’t I just do this! 

Girl D took a photo of the two, which didn’t seem to help.

Girl B (Angry): Why would you do that! I don’t want to be associated with a pig stain like that! 

Girl A (Concerned): I-I’m sorry… B-But where is Girl E… I haven’t seen her all day…

Girl C (Excited): Oh, don’t worry about that, she just lost her swimsuit and she’s busy looking for it. Thankfully I always keep mine on so then it can never get stolen! 

Girl D (Snarky): Wonderful information as always Girl C. Well, I’m betting it’s the pervert that’s been around here. Seems like the most likely outcome to me. 

Then the sound of glass smashing was heard upstairs as all the girls started to visibly panic.

Girl B (Worried): W-What the hell was that! Let’s check it out! 

All 4 girls then ran upstairs where they sound Girl E, who totally isn’t suspicious at this point. 

Girl D (Confused): Girl E? What are you doing here! 

Girl E (Flapping): I was just walking past the music room and I heard a smash! What’s going on, the door’s locked! 

Girl C (Confident): This is where Girl C comes to save the day! I’m so popular in the music room they gave me a spare key just for this room! Let’s get in there and see what the music’s about! 

Then there was a groaning noise as she unlocked the door, to find the exact same girl from the newspaper, in the same position… dead…

The girls then ran around the room, in a blind panic.

Girl B (Worried): O-OK, you morons calm down! If the glass just broke, then that must mean the murderer’s still around here and so they must have escaped from the window… right? Just lock the door from the inside and escape through there, give yourself an extra few seconds…

The rest of the girls turned to each other and nodded.

Girl A (Crying): Y-Yeah, that does m-make sense… T-Then they must have broken the fish tank and caused the gravel to spill…

Girl C (Confident but panicked): Without my key, the only way it could have been locked if from the inside or with the staff key, but the staff door is locked so I don’t think it could have been that, so that seems right! 

Girl E (Completely calm): Then the murderer must have been the pervert going around! He stole my swimsuit and then must have attacked this poor girl! 

Girl B (Composed): Y-Yeah, that does seem like something a pervert would do. W-Whatever, let’s just get out of here, I’m not sticking around to become a suspect.

Girl A (Terrified): Y-Yeah, I-I just want to g-go home… 

Girl E, B and A all walked away, with C walking before turning.

Girl C (Curious): You coming Girl D? 

Girl D (Confused): I’ll be there in a few minutes… 

Girl C nodded and walked off, leaving girl D by themselves as the screen cut to black.

Day 3 appeared in white text. So this is the last day… 

We see Girl E walk up to Girl D, for some unknown reason.

Girl E (Causal): So you wanted to see me? 

Girl D looks around, before continuing.

Girl D (Worried): I think you want to see this.

Girl D hands a photo, it’s of a broken vase, in the same room as the murdered girl.

Girl E (Causal): Well, it’s a nice picture and all, of course, but why would you want to show this to me.

Girl D (Worried): The murder case. The sound we heard that night, it was of this vase wasn’t it and if that’s the case, the murderer couldn’t have escaped from the window. 

There was a pause for a second between the two girls.

Girl D (Quiet): Listen, I think you’re the culprit… But I want to trust you, so please be honest with me and I’ll do you a solid. 

A high quality rip is heard.

Girl E (Saddened): I-I’m so sorry… But you’re right… T-That bitch I killed, she was causing us problems… She threatened you time and time again! She made so many death threats to you I just got sick of it… I knew her family was powerful, but I just wanted to talk, but then she started to talk again. S-She threatened my life as well and I just… Snapped… I choked the life out of her, she couldn’t breathe and fell unconscious… I couldn’t let her live, if she did, she’d come after me and you… I hit her over the head with the gravel from the aquarium and threw the bloodied swimsuit out of the room… I-I just don’t… 

Girl E ran off, before we could see Girl D’s reaction to all of this. 

Girl E (Scared): I-I can’t believe what I’ve just admitted… W-What if someone saw… I’ll destroy the rest of the evidence. No one will ever know, they can’t know…

She got some photos and dumped them into a garbage can, leaving the scene. But as there was no one there, someone else appeared on the scene. 

Guy F (Confused): Huh, what the fuck is she doing? Isn’t that the girl who’s been rumoured to be with her on that day…

He looks in the garbage can and finds a picture.

Guy F (Furious): She, she knows something. SHE KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT MY SISTER! I will never… I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HER! 

The scene cut to black, as the credits rolled.

Starring -

Girl A - MT

Girl B - HS

Girl C - IM

Girl D - MK

Girl E - S

Girl F - NK

Guy F - FK

The scene cut to darkness as a folder dropped down from the game. “Is this a prize for winning?” Chiaki spoke up and I knelt down to her.

“Well, I suppose it is. The question is, do we open it?” 

Chiaki just looked at it. “I don’t know. This could be a huge problem if it’s something bad.”

I then spoke up with some advice, I think she needs it. “Hey, I think we should. Only we will know about this, right? If it’s something bad we can keep it safe, away from anyone else.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. Better to open it with someone I trust.” Chiaki smiled at me and I was surprised, she trusts me already? That’s… sweet of her. “Alright here goes.” She opened up the picture, revealing three photos. The first one was of a blond girl, murdered in the exact same situation as in the game.

“So then was the game…”

“I’ve seen games cover real life situations before…” The next one was of the vase picture, the one that Girl D took. “It seems like it is…” The last one had a photo of Hiyoko, Mikan and Ibuki!?

“W-Wait what? B-But if they’re them, then Mahiru must have been Girl D… Wait, was this motive designed to get her hurt! She knows something about this, and if anyone else has anything to do, t-then…”

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder. “It’s a good thing we found it then, right Hajime? This information will be safe with us, so don’t worry. This motive won’t mean much. I know you care about her, even if you’re not sure why. I get that vibe from you. You were right to open this early. Everyone will be safe, I’ll try to make it that way and whatever happens, we’ll be OK, because we have each other. No matter what, that’ll always include you, I will make sure of that. I’ll take this back to my room, OK? Let’s go to bed.” Chiaki gave me the sweetest smile I’d ever seen and her words filled me with a warmth I haven’t felt in a while. 

“Thanks Chiaki, I didn’t realise you were also the Ultimate Speech Maker.”

“I got it from my dad. Night Hajime, stay safe.” She kept smiling and walked off after my compliment. Her dad sounds like a nice person, I only hope she gets to see him again. I went off to bed as well, not seeing anyone else, before falling asleep instantly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, sorry this is late, this was a long chapter to write and I got really sick earlier today, so I couldn't upload it, but it's here now. This chapter was kind of a doozy, but it's out. The way I did the video game was a refence to when I first got into writing and used a different style, I felt it would be fun to go back to it. In a way, it's easier to write like that since I can just place the emotion right next to the character so guess it was a good thing for a last minute push. Anyway, what to say... I'm proud of the "Correctamondo" pun and this chapter was fun to write in the character department. Fuyuhiko's a character who hasn't gotten much screentime yet so I'm glad to get him his own free time event and the little conversation that Ibuki, Hajime and Chiaki had was nice to write. Anyway not much left to say apart from comments and reviews are welcomed and I'll see you next time.


	6. Day 4: Dying for a Diner.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime gets taken to a Diner by Kazuichi and Ibuki's there too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so shoot, I forgot to add something important to this chapter, so this is being edited really fast. I'll make sure to add this to the next chapter as well, but I just realised something and yeah, just need to make something clear.

*DING DONG* “It’s now 7am. Get ready for another beautiful day in your paradise.” Once again the alarm from Monokuma woke me up and I still feel like I didn’t sleep at all last night.

To be fair, I did spend a lot of time up with Chiaki and I’m sure she’s still sleeping.

Nevertheless I got ready and walked off to the restaurant. Indeed everyone but Chiaki, Fuyuhiko and Nagito were there. Everyone was eying each other out, clearly suspicious of each other. Peko was the first one to cease the silence. “So, about that motive. What should we do about it?” 

“The contents of the motive will undoubtedly drive us to kill. We’re ignoring it and that’s final.” I didn’t even give anyone a chance to think about their answer before I spoke up, which turned all attention on me again, which isn’t the greatest situation. 

“Are you sure about this? It could contain information that has the potential to allow us to leave this island.”

“Do you think Monokuma would be that merciful? It’s clearly a trap.” I interrupted Byakuya with a surprisingly calm response, which caused a popping sound to appear from beside the table.

“Well, that’s awfully cruel, Hajime, would I do something like that?” Monokuma appeared to the side of us, causing us all to panic, with some of us grabbing weapons as a make-shift defence, even if they’re entirely pointless. 

“What are you doing here!” The panic in Sonia’s voice was noticeable as Gundham and his hamsters tried to protect her.

A nefarious smile creeped onto its face. “What do I want? Well I want you to play my game of course! I worked hard on it and now you’re all refusing it. Besides, why do you trust this guy anyway? For all you know, he could have crept onto the machine last night and now has more information than the rest of you idiots on how to escape! Who would you realistically trust, a bear who can’t physically harm you or someone who’s true intentions you don’t know who has the ability and motive to kill you?” 

A slam came down on the table. “Oh no, you’re not going to turn us all against each other! If we do that, then we’ll have no chance of getting out of here!” As we turned to the slam, we noticed it came from Mahiru, who was currently very upset. 

“BWAHAHAHA! Oh, that’s adorable! Why do you think you can work together? Besides, you’ve turned on yourselves already. You’ve locked up Mr. Hope Lover over there and you’re clearly not friends with the angry midget. Besides, you all have a chance to get out of here… You can do it my way~. No other options here though… Sheesh, you all got boring fast, seriously, no arguments or great speeches as to how you’re going to defeat me? Sure, you may get one or two lines, but wow you all don’t have anything to say to your own school teacher... Well, whatever, think about your next actions carefully and feel free to pray to your god. But spoilers, I won’t be listening. BWAHAHAHAHA!” With the laugh echoing through the room, the monochrome bear disappeared into the floor, with his words being the only thing he left in the room.

The tension in the room was unbearable for some of us as they just got up and left. I think I’ll do the same, I’ll eat somewhere else. 

I ate at the diner yesterday, so let’s get a snack from the market today! Surprisingly, the store was completely full of supplies, so clearly Monokuma isn’t planning on starving us to death. Well, let’s just get some snacks. Without a clerk, it seems like paying isn’t needed, which is great since nobody with a brain would accept these coins. 

“Hey.” Footsteps followed the sound as I turned to see Mahiru closing in. “You shouldn’t be gorging yourself on snacks like that, it’s not healthy.”

I kept getting some snacks despite her nagging. “I know, but we don’t have long to really do anything. I think it’s more important to keep my morale up, don’t want to risk doing something stupid because I’m upset.” 

Surprisingly her response was a little nod. “W-Well, that’s understandable, I’d prefer it if you took healthier methods of coping, but beggars can’t be choosers, especially when Monokuma’s around. I just don’t want you ending up like Byakuya. Even though he’s not awful, his eating habits are, it’s setting an awful example, especially towards Akane.” 

For some reason, I can’t help but smile at her. I know she’s nagging me and all, but she might care about me. “Don’t worry, before I came here, or kidnapped more accurately, I did do some exercise so hopefully I’ll be fine.” 

“Hey, there you are! Why are you hanging around this loser anyway?” Hiyoko suddenly ran into the building and wrapped her hands around Mahiru, as if to claim her as her own, or to protect her from outside threats.

Obviously the Photographer’s face turned to shock, before turning to her little friend. “Oh, I was just making sure he wasn’t goofing around or being dangerous.” 

“Well, whatever. He’ll never be dangerous, he’s not someone who could even pull off something like that. Anyway, can we go now, I want to go and play!” Hiyoko was whining with the most stereotypical little girl voice I had ever heard, which was enough for Mahiru to give in and follow Hiyoko. 

“Well, I’ll see you later then. Make sure to not slack off, OK?” Mahiru began to walk away, in a way that made Hiyoko feel like she was pulling her, which put a smile on the smaller girl’s face. 

“H-Hey…” The redhead swiftly motioned her head towards me. I don’t know why, but my breathing is getting faster. I know she’s in danger, but I don’t want to act suspicious… “Please, just stay safe…” Mahiru’s face showed a small amount of curiosity, but simply nodded and went off with Hiyoko. I know she’s smart, she was able to help out in the trial, which is more than what I can say for most, but with Monokuma outright targeting her, I can’t help but worry. 

“Hey, looks like someone’s got a chance! Nice going Hajime!” I wiped my head to turn to Kazuichi of all people. 

“Kazuichi, what the heck are you doing here? Also what do you mean by ‘a chance’?” He had his hands behind his neck, as if he was relaxing on a bench. 

Then a laugh came out of his mouth. “Man, she’s totally into you. Most of the time an opportunity like that doesn’t come around, so I’d get right on that!” 

I then just raised a brow at the yellow hat man. “She’s always nagging at me and constantly telling me to be reliable, and you think that means she’s attracted to me?” 

Kazuichi somehow morphed his face into a look that seemed more confused than I am at the moment. “Dude, she doesn’t want to hang out with any of the other guys at all. Honestly, I would have just assumed she hates men if it weren’t for her wanting to be with you. Guess she’s one of those Tsundere types.” 

Kazuichi has a look of pride, which makes no sense for every single reason I can think of. “Kazuichi, what do you think this is, an anime or something? Those types of people don’t exist in real life. If she really liked me, I think she’d just outright say it, instead of being petty all the time.”

“Geez, you’re being kind of weird. You outright told her to stay safe and she smiled at that. You both clearly like each other.” Now Kazuichi had a voice of confusion, but now I’m getting worried, as sweat begins to roll down my forehead and his confusion returned to the previous prideful, or happy, face he was making. “Ooh, I see what it is now. You’re just shy of admitting your feelings aren’t you!” My body then leapt back on its own, with me struggling for control to not fall over. “Haha, I knew it! Well, I might not be the best person to give you some relationship advice, so why not let us go visit some of the girls!” He got a sudden amount of confidence and excitement from giving me that idea, which is worrying to say the least.

“How on earth do you plan on doing that?” 

“Well, I overheard Ibuki yelling about a girl’s meetup at the diner, so why not go there in advance, so then we ‘accidently’ find them at the same time.” There were no words after Kazuichi’s plan was said. “Do you have anything else to do right now?” 

His snark was enough for me to shut up and simply stay silent “Haha, I knew you’d come around. Anyway, meet me back here at 1pm, we'll head there then! Heh heh, victory for Kazuichi." He wandered off with a shark-like grin on his face, as I started to regret my actions.

Time went past quickly until I returned, where he was already there. "I've got everything ready so let's do it to it!"

As we walked, one small question popped up within my head. “Why are you taking me off all people? Like, why not anyone else?” 

Kazuichi threw his arms behind his head and kept calm. “Well, because Nagito’s insane, Gundham’s a jerk, Nekomaru would snap me in half and Fuyuhiko would most likely kill me.” I simply shrugged and moved on, although I did see Fuyuhiko on the second island give Kazuichi a slight death glare, so I wouldn't say the mechanic is wrong here. 

Eventually we arrived at the Diner, where Ibuki was waiting by herself, not really doing much. “Oh! Hello Hajime and Kazuichi! What are you guys doing here!” Ibuki waved to us and ran over just as fast.

Before the man next to me could do anything, I spoke up. “We were planning on getting some food, to hang out. Maybe get some of those shards or whatever, maybe they’ll get us some brownie points with the bears.” 

Before Kazuichi could speak up, Ibuki spoke up. “Oh, that sounds fun! Way less boring than just being out here waiting anyway, let’s go!” Ibuki ran inside of the diner, and so me and Kazuichi followed. The three of us got a nice looking table and sat down, which Ibuki got me to sit next to her. As we sat down, I heard an alarm saying it's 2pm… Somehow.

“Hey, so I don’t think we’ve talked to one another before, right? Let’s do that. Why don’t you start Kazuichi?”

Ibuki then gave a happy stare to him, which caused him to get a little embarrassed, “W-Well, if you’re all wanting to, then I can talk about myself, although it’s not really interesting. Pretty much what happened was that I simply one day got a skateboard and began to tinker with it, which soon turned into getting the family car dismantled and then I realised I could make some money off it, so I ended up doing so. Life was pretty lonely, but eventually I got noticed and sent to Hope’s Peak, which was a sweet deal! Until the kidnapping part.” He's surprisingly causal about his talent, which is kind of pleasant to see. 

"That's it? Aww, I thought you'd fight some mechadragon or something…" The disappointment came from Ibuki as we both turned to her in confusion. 

"H-Hold on, what's that supposed to mean! Just because I'm a mechanic doesn't mean I can either create or god forbid fight a monster like that. If I could, wouldn't I try to fight either the bears or those Monobeasts?" The panicked rant caused Ibuki to gain a sheepish look.

"Well, what about you Hajime?" Ibuki turned to look at me, which is likely a way to deflect the topic at hand. 

"Still no memory of my talent." 

All I got for this were two confused looks. "Well, what about your childhood?"

"My childhood… Completely average. Had two parents, went to school and just did OK on tests." As i spoke, I could feel all the enthusiasm fall out of my body, as it began to slump into the seat I was in. As I fell down, I decided to turn to the window to see Hiyoko running. I wonder what that's about.

"Geez, dude. No need to get all down in the dumps about that. It's not a crime to have a normal childhood. I'm pretty sure some of us would kill to have that… Bad choice of words I know, but help me out here Ibuki!"

"I wonder if Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko have something going on?"

"Ibuki!" This yelp got the girl's attention as she swung back into position.

She threw her arm as an statute before realising what Kazuichi actually wanted. "Yeah, Hajime. There's nothing wrong with having a normal childhood, because the past doesn't define who we are, it's what we do with the gift of life that matters the most! We're still friends no matter what!" Ibuki wrapped her arm around me, which made me curl up, however she pulled it back when she realised what she did. 

I then released a light chuckle, as I turned to her. "Ibuki, we've hardly interacted, we're not that close."

She gave me a wink however, which I don't fully get, but she seems to be enjoying herself. "Nonsense! You're fun to be around and you're nice, so we're friends." Ibuki was gleaming with positivity which was making me feel better.

"Thank you two." 

Kazuichi once again made his arms into a makeshift pillow and smiled. “Heh heh, don’t worry about it. We’ve got to keep morale up, right? Besides, I think everything will turn out fine. I do wonder what the purpose of those shards is, but I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. Anyway, Ibuki, you wanna give your childhood?” 

The musician looked slightly uncomfortable but went along with it. “Err, well ok. I ended up being part of a music band when I was younger and we did a lot together. We had a few creative differences, so I ended up leaving and making a name for myself, so now I’m here!” 

“I can’t help but feel like you skipped over some of the finer details there Ibuki.” 

“Ibuki doesn’t feel like the past is important.” Kazuichi’s concerns were derailed by Ibuki, who literally attempted to wave it off, which is weird, but hey. 

“Well, what types of music did you do back then, and what do you do now?” I spoke up, which caused her to think again.

“Eh, in the group we did some sort of romance and cheesy songs, the type that made me gag every time I had to sing them. When solo though, heh heh, Ibuki makes some real bangers. Get me a venue and I’ll play you some, I promise!” She got a huge grin on her face, which was clearly infectious to the both of us. 

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind listening to at least one of them, I guess. Seems like a fun time.”

Then we heard a door opening. It was Akane, wearing a bikini, and her tanned muscle bound body was covered in… blood? 

“Wha-Wha-WHA?” 

“Oh, we’re having a beach party. In fact, I’m already wearing my costume underneath this one.” Kazuichi’s panicked voice was counteracted by Ibuki’s chill voice.

Which I’m going to counteract with more panicking. “That’s not the issue here!” 

I looked over to Kazuichi who was almost drooling, with sparkles within his eyes. “Wow…” I could only glare at him.

Even though he didn’t notice, I got what I wanted from it, so I turned to Akane. “Hey, why exactly are you covered with blood?” 

Akane just turned to me and gave a hearty laugh. “Oh come on Harrison! It’s not major, just got into a sparring match with Nekomaru, that guy can throw a serious punch when he really tries!” 

I can feel my eyelids drop but not closing. “Hajime. Also how do you expect to do anything at a beach party when you’re so badly beaten that you’re covered in blood.” 

She just gave me a wink. “Well, he gave me the ‘thing’. I’m sure if you ask nicely, he’ll give it to you as well, but be warned, it’s quite the challenge the first time through but so worth it.” Kazuichi was having a nosebleed while I’m very uncomfortable now.

Ibuki waved over to Akane. “Alright then Akane, come over here so then we can get a nice close look at you! Also there’s not too much to do right now, so maybe more of us can make it interesting!” 

“Heh, alright then, although since we’re here, something to eat might be nice, Byakuya stood me up for some decent food.” I stood up immediately at the call to action by the Gymnast.

“Leave it to me.” 

I left the table and went behind the kitchen. “Ibuki didn’t know you were into grilling, Hajime!” 

I can only cook up one dry response to that. “It helps distract me.” 

“Also, food’s good no matter what.” I have a thumbs up to Akane and her grin as I started grilling. 

“Hey hey, is everyone here?” I turned my attention to the new girl in the store, Chiaki in a very white skimpy bikini that made me feel worried for some reason. 

“Wow, Chiaki, you look… Amazing!” Ibuki had too much enthusiasm in her voice, but I can’t help but agree with her in some… 

Chiaki turned to me and suddenly got a saddened look in her eye, especially when she knew I saw the injury that she had obtained. It was covered up with a plaster, but I knew exactly what was going on. 

In a hurry, I rushed out of the building, in order to desperately prove to myself that the worst possible thing wasn’t happening. I remember seeing Hiyoko run out of the beach, so I have to check there first. It’s close by anyway so I don’t see the harm. I ran to the backdoor of the washhouse first, but it was locked and there was no response from inside. So I then ran to the other side, where the door seemed to be open. Before I could open it though, I heard a voice. “Oh, Hajime. What are you doing here?” I turned to see Peko, calm as ever and soaked as well as in a bikini. Are swimsuits banned or something? “Oh, did you get embarrassed about seeing all the girls.” Her calm look didn’t change, but she’s obviously wrong about that, I can’t just say it though, then she’d know that I know more than everyone else! “There’s nothing wrong with it you know. At least you’re being respectful in the way that if you’re uncomfortable you’re not outright attacking or ogling the others and from what I’ve heard, teenagers do tend to deal with complex emotions. Speaking of complex emotions, I saw Mahiru and Hiyoko go in there a while ago. I’m sure Mahiru would scold you for supposedly being a pervert, so I’d stay clear for now. Anyway, I’m going to head over to Ibuki now, hopefully the party will be fun. Have a nice day.” She calmly walked off, and I think I should as well. If Hiyoko left, then maybe Mahiru’s just in her room or something. 

_“You have to go in there.”_ W-What? I heard a voice in my head… _“Please listen. If you don’t, your friend will pay the price…”_ From what I could gather, they seemed to have the voice of a younger child, although in the way that they were a mature child. It seems weird to listen to a voice in my head, but if someone’s going to pay the price if I refuse, I can’t just not do it, even if Mahiru will likely scold me.   
I threw my hand on the knob and threw the door open… And I wish I didn’t. Everything has a time where it doesn’t work anymore. People die, food expires and electronics break down. The circle of life, it’s unfair and cruel and just a part of life. Logically speaking, life is as instant as a picture, so shouldn’t you try to make that one the best you can make it? 

I certainly wish I could have done better on that front. A metal baseball bat lay on the ground, along with a trial of blood from a door to the dead body of Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer. “A body has been discovered! You shall be given time to investigate after which a Class Trial will begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I killed Mahiru, who you thought was going to be important, that makes me awesome and subverting because I tricked you all which is always a good trope, defiantly not overused and it's totally not lying to your audience. Anyway, Mahiru Koizumi, a character who is underused within the main series, but I guess the reason for that is to try and have the most diverse and best choice for a cast of survivors, so if she had to be cut to make that work, then I can't blame anyone. Her design is simple, which is kind of boring but I like it. Reminds me of the more down-to-earth people from DR1... God I miss those characters. Anyway, trial next time and if you have complaints, please read the comments section of this part first and if you don't... then don't read that.


	7. Deadly Life 2!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding the corpse of the second victim, Hajime finds himself alone and free to investigate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I added something to the last chapter because I completely forgot so here’s the addition “Kazuichi threw his arms behind his head and kept calm. “Well, because Nagito’s insane, Gundham’s a jerk, Nekomaru would snap me in half and Fuyuhiko would most likely kill me.” I simply shrugged and moved on, although I did see Fuyuhiko on the second island give Kazuichi a slight death glare, so I wouldn't say the mechanic is wrong here."

“A body has been discovered! You shall be given time to investigate after which a Class Trial will begin.” I just stood over Mahiru’s body, which laid on her front... I should be calm, yet I can't feel anything other than cold. Taking a closer look at her body, it's obvious the killing blow was the head injury. I noticed she had an injection in her neck, with a little dot there, but with the poisons in the pharmacy, it's obvious this was just to finish the job in case something went wrong, especially since there’s just a bit of shattered glass down there.

Damn it, it's my fault that she died… I'm going to bring her killer to justice, no matter what. 

This is likely the rawest I'll get this crime scene, so I have to take advantage of this. The first thing that confuses me is the trial of blood. It's coming from the door, so does that mean her body was moved to get out of there safely? I suppose it makes sense. 

Another noteworthy detail is that the bottles are emptied completely and chucked in the bin, almost making it overfilled. Wonder why that happened. I suppose it's not too important. The metal bat doesn't have the most amount of blood, but it definatly hit her, so that should be the murder weapon. A mask was also placed down, although I am not sure what it really means, but it does look familiar. I wonder if there's other clues around here. Maybe the storage closet? 

Checking in here might be important. First there was a sweet on the floor, a lemon one if the yellow colouring is to be believed. It has to be red herring though, I don’t think anyone would plant a clue that obviously, although a surfboard was left out and it’s container was left open which is kind of a strange thing to exist. What was even weirder was that there was a cloth in there, although I have no idea why. It's even scented with some sort of scent. I suppose there’s only really one place left to look for clues. 

The shower area was pretty empty, although it seems that the two swimsuits are from seprate people, due to their sizes, but what surprised me is that the window is open. Judging by how high it is, nobody would be able to get up there without any kind of help. That has to mean that more than one person was behind this, but why would they do that? There’s no benefit to that at all, unless some people know each other? 

There’s not enough clues here to really figure anything out, I need testimony. Ibuki and Chiaki should be helpful to talk too. She was near the scene of the crime before any of us and I need to apologise to Chiaki anyway. I should have taken the responsibility myself. 

I walked out and took a look at the sand. Apart from my own footprints, there were two small footprints and a tiny bit of wet sand, with bigger footprints to go along with that. I wonder what that could mean. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. I walked around and saw Nekomaru, who was currently distressed and fully cleaned, which is odd for two reasons. I'm the only one who’s seen Mahiru and secondly, why is Akane bloody but he’s not? “Hey, Nekomaru, what’s going on?” 

“HOLY SHIT, HAJIME! Where have you been?” Nekomaru managed to make my ears hurt from the distance he was at, but I’m confused, why is he so shocked.

“Investgating a murder! Didn’t you hear the body announcement?” 

“Yeah, I know that!” He shouted again, but then went deathly quiet. “Hold on, did you say you were investgating a murder?” 

This worry also began to worry me a lot. “Y-Yeah, Mahiru’s dead…” Nekomaru’s face became one of intense sadness. 

He placed a hand on my shoulder, which made me uncomfortable, which he quickly noticed and took off. “Sorry about that, kind of forgot you don’t like that. But I’m sorry, and I know this is going to be a hard time for you, if you need to sit out to calm yourself, no one will judge.” 

“Sit out? How can I sit out now? Someone’s dead and if I can’t pull my weight, how the hell do people expect to stay alive. I know exactly what happened last time, hardly anyone was smart enough to even speak up, and especially not smart enough to provide any useful information. I can morn afterwards or whatever, but we don’t have time to be sad.” 

Despite my anger, he simply closed his eyes, while keeping a serious demeanor. “This is why you need to calm down. You’re in grief, that much is obvious. The evidence isn’t going away anytime soon but I don’t think you want to upset anyone else.” 

"Calm down? Listen, when you're trapped on an island where you can die at any moment and all you've got for companions are either people who are suspects, jerks or are just not helpful at all!" He didn’t change his expression at all, despite my clear anger towards him. 

“Well, what woul-”

“DO NOT USE THAT CLICHÉ ON ME. Do you know what she would do right now, she’d call me out for being pathetic. Or better yet, she’d tell me to be reliable because apparently all men have to be like that, but women get a free pass for some reason.” I interrupted Nekomaru with a scream accompanied by a rant. Why am I not giving myself time to think, I don’t get it.

Nekomaru simply opened his eyes, giving me an icy glare. “The evidence isn’t going anywhere Hajime. However, neither are you unless you calm down. You need to take a breather. I’m not saying to not be angry, because that feeling is reasonable, but don’t take it out on others. Focus on what you want right now." I know I can't get past him, so now I have to just wait? He knows that there's a time limit for both the investigation and then another time limit for the trial. Why is he being like this anyway, I've never seen him like this and why me in particular? I don't understand… 

Frankly, I don't think I understand anything here. Why us, why does anyone have to suffer here? Why did she even come to me first and why am I the only one who doesn't know their talent, the reason I'm even here. 

If I don't stop with these questions I can't answer, I'll be here for the rest of my life, I need to know what I want right now, the future doesn't matter right now. A sigh came out of my mouth. "I want to avenge Mahiru's death. I don't know why I'm feeling so strongly about her, since we haven't known each other for long, but I feel guilty about it, as if I could have prevented it. It won't do much in the long run, but I need to do this now, before I focus on anything else. I'll try to keep calm, but please don't leave me out of this investigation." I looked up to the giant, as it feels like I'm begging not to be left behind, like a puppy wanting to be with their owner. 

Admittedly I could have used a better example, but at this point, I'm too desperate to care. He relaxed his arms from the crossed position they were in and finally opened his eyes again. “I wouldn’t normally allow an athlete to go out mentally or physically unprepared, but it seems I don’t have much of a choice. I’ll stick by you just to keep an eye on you, so please try not to hurt anyone else.” I nodded my head and was finally able to move about, which felt like I was being freed. 

“I think I’ve got a place I want to head first. Just to quickly check something.” He nodded and followed me out to the pharmacy. I headed inside and now I just have to find out what I’m looking for.    
“H-Hey, so I’ve got to take a shit, so I’ll be back in a second.” Nekomaru ran off before I could counter his point, but I guess if there’s any time to do it, now’s it. Anyway, let’s take a look around here, to find something that could have been used. 

Throughout the shelves, I could only find three odd things. A relaxer and a poison taken away. One was a poison called 45S-PA1R and a relaxer called Tetrodotoxin B, although there’s no labels anywhere for effects, so I don’t have much idea of what they could do, but why were two things taken instead of one? Maybe someone’s dealing with stress issues? The other thing was a bottle of chroloform that's gone missing, so someone was knocked out.

Well apart from those two things, nothing’s changed, but it was worth a look. I’ll just head on out then.

“Listen, I’d wait until we get those ‘Monopads’ before exploring the other death. If nothing else, then we can decide who’s waiting at the bodies. This will be four people taken out of the investigation.” 

“Yet Hajime was able to have the whole area to himself for that period of time?” Is that Byakuya and Nekomaru? 

I ran outside to indeed see the two biggest members of the class having a discussion about something. “He’s clearly not in the best mood, but I don’t think he could be the killer. He likely thought Mahiru was the only death. If anyone was with him, I would have seen them by now.” 

“Hey, what’s going on here?” This caused the two to turn in shock, only just noticing my presence. 

“Hmph, well, I’m just saying you’re an untrustworthy source. Only you were there to discover a body, so why should we even trust you? You’re the most likely suspect for the killer.” 

Those words caused my heart to race, as I walked towards him. Nekomaru had a look of worry upon his face, but that didn’t matter. Every step made the anger grow even more. Before I could reach Byakuya, I got picked up. “What did I tell you? You’re not going to get anyone hurt on my watch.” I’m struggling to get out of his grip, but he’s holding me tight, so there wasn’t anything I can really do, so after a bit of resistance I relented. “Let’s get you to see the other body for now.” 

So I was carried by Nekomaru, and I don’t see Byakuya, so I guess he’s waiting somewhere for the Monopads to appear. 

After a while of walking, Nekomaru spoke up once again. “Alright, the body is in there. I’ll let you down, just don’t do anything reckless.” I nodded as I was put down in front of the hotel as I went in, followed by the muscle bound man. 

Coming into the school, I wasn’t going to like everyone, that’s something you get used to in life. Some people might just be mean or they might just be somewhat annoying. There’s no shame in not liking someone, if they don’t try to be nice to you, why should you try to be nice to them.

Regardless, even if they’re not well liked, it’s important to respect others. Be the better person and all that. So I’m not going to enjoy your death, don’t get the wrong idea but Hiyoko Saionji, I don’t expect anyone to mourn you. 

Her body was in a sad state, neck snapped and tossed in a pool, no blood, but I don’t think anyone would fake a state such as that one. 

Everyone else was here though, so it seems I was the last one to arrive. “Finally, sheesh took you long enough.” Monokuma popped up from underground, shocking no one. 

“Well it’s not my fault that I thought there was only one death. Why did it do that anyway, it almost seemed like a glitch.” This remark from me caused the bear to clearly overreact, jumping in anger at the comment. 

“A glitch? You think that my perfection has any flaws? How dare you. What happened was simple. Whenever three people who aren’t the killer find a body, that’s when the alarm goes off. It just so happened that both bodies were found at the same time, so don’t judge my hard work, or else you won’t be around to judge anything anymore.” Monokuma spouted out an empty threat, before landing back on the ground, folding his arms. Although that is helpful information to keep in mind. 

“So, are we going to get those Monopads now. We haven’t had them in a while and it would be helpful to get as much information as possible.” Thanks to her voice, I noticed Peko was fully dressed, thank goodness for that, although her hair was still somewhat drenched, but I don’t think that is anyone’s top priority. 

I think Monokuma thought about it for a couple of seconds. Then he waved his paw about. “Eh, I’ll give it to those who’ve seen both of the bodies. They’ll be in the bathhouse on the second island, so make your way over there. As for the people who have seen it, here you go.” Monokuma gave me a Monopad, and pretty much no one else. “Alright, see you kids soon, and make sure to rush over to the other body if you want a chance at survival, BWAHAHAHA!” Monokuma and his laugh went back to the place they came from after handing me my tool.

I guess the most important thing to do is to quickly look at Hiyoko’s body and then get some testimony. I already know who to talk to, but first let’s look at the Monopad. “Mahriu Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer, was found dead in the beach house, the cause of death being a head wound. Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, was found in the pool with the cause of death being a snapped neck.” Pretty basic and obvious but might still be helpful in the future. 

“Ah, so you’re the one who saw the dead body first. Interesting to hear that Hajime.” Shocked, I turned around to see Nagito, who indeed was here in the flesh. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be tied up?” 

“I got out. But that’s not important, I have something to tell you.” Nagito kept smiling as if there was nothing wrong with what he’s recently done. But I do think I should get more information, so I’ll keep listening to him. “First of all, there was a tiny amount of soggy meat amd a packet of red gummy bears in Hiyoko’s pockets, hopefully it wasn’t soggy before she took a dive. But here’s the more important part of this. I found something that’s pretty important. I won’t describe the details yet, but let’s just say that this might be more than just a double murder.” He finished his sentence, before getting out another injection needle. I’m not sure of what he means by that, but considering how he basically planned the first murder, I have to take his words somewhat seriously. He’s smart, I’ll give him that. Yet there’s almost nothing here for Hiyoko. Whoever killed her did a very good job on hiding whatever could be done. 

Before I walked out, I heard a voice. “Hey, if you’re getting information, there’s something you should know about, Hilburt. That neck snap was done by brute strength. At least that’s what Nekomaru said, something about there being no skill.” I was taken aback by this infomation from Akane, but I simply nodded and walked off.

The thing that’s going to make or break this case is testimony, but thankfully I think I can trust Ibuki. I also have to apologise to Chiaki, for letting her get hurt… 

I rushed out, looking for either one of them, and I saw Ibuki, about to head out. “Ibuki, wait!” She turned towards me, as I rushed towards her. “Hey, can I have a recap of what went down today, at the diner and what you guys did after I rushed out?” 

She gave me a thumbs up before taking a giant breath. “OK, so what happened was that like two minutes before you guys arrived, Fuyuhiko walked out from the beach, then we went in and talked, which was all at two past noon. Then we all talked for a bit and while we did that Hiyoko ran out at 2.30pm, you ran out about half an hour later after Akane showed up, complained about Byakuya, along with Chiaki who also came here for the party. Then Sonia turned up, wearing a swimming suit being all like ‘I’ve finished my time with Gundham for today so if it’s OK, could I join’ and I was like ‘Sure.’ Peko then turned up wet as heck, before the body announcement went off and we all ran around like crazy. Then Gundham told us the body was in the pool and so we went down there and that’s what happened.” She said all of this extremely fast, but thankfully I was able to catch it all. I gave her a nod and a little thank you, allowing her to do whatever Ibuki does. 

I only need to find Chiaki now. Thankfully she was not far, although asking Ibuki would have been the best idea now that I think about it. She still hasn’t noticed me, so let’s get her attention. “Hey, can we talk? You know, in private?” I simply walked up to Chiaki, who turned towards me with a saddened expression.

“Yeah, we can do that.” We ended up going into the library, just because no one else was there. “Hajime, I’m sorry about what happened.”

I simply sighed. “Look, it wasn’t your fault. You were attacked during the middle of the night, right?” She nodded, trying not to cry. “So whoever attacked you wanted those files, which must mean they have a connection to either Mahiru, Hiyoko, Ibuki or Mikan.” I sighed out a breath. “Just wanted to check if that information is correct.” 

Chiaki then took a second before responding. “Listen, Hajime. You can’t blame yourself for any of this. I know the trial is going to be hard for you, but we’ll be here for you. Everything you said was correct, but please don’t do anything too reckless.”

Before I could respond, an alarm sounded through the isles. “Double the cases, double the murders. Everyone, please head down to the main accration, the trial grounds A, S, A, P for the next climactic battle to close this chapter of your lives. Hope you have fun.” 

I was about to leave, but then I remembered something. “The mask! I’ve seen it before.” I rushed to look at the books on serial killers, much to Chiaki’s confusion, before flicking through it.

“Hajime, what are you doing? The trial’s starting soon and I don’t think Monokuma will be nice about us missing it.” 

“Give me a second.” Then I got to the page I needed. An exact copy of the mask on the floor. I slammed it on the table. “So this happy masked serial killer’s name is Sparkling Justice, eh? This will be handy to keep in mind.” 

Chiaki then peeked over to the book. “Huh, they’re from Spain. ’Justicia completa! El centro de justicia que es atravesado por la justicia! La estrella principal en la noche! Ese seria yo...Sparkling Justice!’ Seems a little over dramatic…” She then turned to me. “Come on. I don’t want Monokuma hurting you or anything else.” Chiaki walked out, and I followed, I have to keep focused on all this information, right now surviving is priority number one. 

I was one of the first to arrive, simply waiting for the others. “Hmph, it seems that this is happening once again.” 

“Then let’s get this over with. The Supreme Overlord of Ice has other matters to attend to.” Gundham and Byakuya tried to remain confident, but it was clear by their voices they weren’t in a good mood, which is good. Nobody should be happy at death. 

“Make sure to stay calm and focused in this trial. If we get distracted it could be the end of us.” 

“Eh, things will just work out. I’ve survived worse.” The next two voices were calm as leaves going down a river, as the tag team of Nekomaru and Akane showed up both of them not having very varied expressions. 

I then heard a groan coming from below the average height. “Whatever. It’s not like this trial will change anything fucking important. Let’s just get this shit over with.” 

The Monokuma head now popped out a staircase, allowing some of us to go inside. As I was about to do so, Chiaki walked in front of me. “Hajime, you didn’t let me finish. Please don’t get too upset with anyone, OK? I know you’re dealing with a lot of stress right now, but you’re not alone. We’re all suffering and going through this. We’re better as a team, rather than alone.” She let the elevator take her, as I did so right afterwards. Mahiru and Hiyoko. I would be remiss to point out the two who are extremely close end up dying together, but I simply don’t know how to fully feel. Mahiru’s the most bossy person I’ve met in my life, she’s nagging and always following me around in order to make sure I’m not slacking off. I wonder if what everyone else said about her really caring about me was true, but if I wonder about that, I’m going to get distracted. Even if knowing why she acts the way she does would be interesting, it’s not important anymore. Hiyoko on the other hand. I’m not sure who is more insufferable, her or Fuyuhiko. At least Fuyuhiko knows when not to be rude. Despite this, Mahiru managed to see good in her. Maybe she’s just immature and simply a kid, stuck within an unfamiliar and scary place. Kids are either pure of heart or just jerks, I suppose that’s more of the parent's fault rather than the kid themselves. I wonder if I chose to get closer to her, would I be able to understand why she feels the way she does? I don’t actually know how this trial’s going to work, is it one execution or two. Whatever the case is, I’m planning to bring justice to whoever killed an innocent, so they better be afraid of what’s about to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, kind of interesting to write this one but hopefully it pans out well enough. Although to be honest, right now I'm not doing as much writing as I liked, playing Fire Emblem and when I get sucked into a game, I get sucked into it. But that's beside the point. Not a fan of Hiyoko. Sorry Hiyoko fans, just never liked her and if I wrote her badly, I apologise for that as well.


	8. Deadly Life: The Second Trial!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the death of two of the students, the class is now forced to take part in another class trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what's back in store, that's right, the worst fanfiction on this whole site. Awful uploading, awful writing and awful everything, it's time to get back on with the show. Sorry for the delay but I don't know if it'll get better any time soon, since I'll have to remember how to write stuff. Sure does suck to be me. Also this time, I should note that Hajime might not be in totally right characterisation here, and if he ain't, I apologise.

Once again I’m brought here, to the trial ground as the elevator fully descended. Nothing much had changed on the trial ground this time, still the black and white checkered pattern, only that three new podiums stood tall. Mikan's was some kind of flatline covering her face, Hiyoko's looked like a ribbon and Mahiru had a circle with a smaller X inside, maybe to represent a lens on a camera? "Welcome kiddos, to the greatest time of your lives, the class trial ! So, you all know the rules and so do I, but let’s go over them all as well. So the goal here is to find the blackened, if you fail at this task, you all shall be executed, however if you do manage to find the person, only the blackened will be executed, and all of you will get to live on! Does that make sense, well if not, tough luck kids, it’s showtime! Also, please make sure to head to your designated stands.” Without anything to lose, I walked to stand, and a rush of loneliness came over me. This is going to be difficult, if this feeling persists.

I looked around the class, and nobody seemed too willing to start. That was until Fuyuhiko spoke up. "Hey, asswipe! How is the voting going to work? If there's two killers, what happens?" Monokuma didn't seem to react to his colourful language.

However he did acknowledge it, with a throat clear. "Well, in that case, it's the first killer who gets off scot-free. The second death was for nothing." This caused a few nods to fill the area.

"Then let us consider the possible suspects for both murders." 

“No, only Mahiru’s death matters.” I got a few looks of disgust from the other members, although to be frank, I’m not sure why. 

“W-What, how can you be so insensitive Hajime!” 

“Oh no…” Sonia and Chiaki were the first ones to speak up both with equally depressed faces and tones. 

However a worried voice came from Ibuki. “Actually, considering what Monokuma said and what we’ve seen, we have every reason to believe Hiyoko dies second, so Hajime is technically correct here.” This caused some unfriendly noises to come out, but those aren’t important.

“Hmph, without context or proof, we can only dismiss that as false evidence, so cough up the information.” 

Byakuya was being obnoxious, but I can shut him up with a little fact checking. "Kazuichi and Ibuki can back me up here. We saw Hiyoko running out of the place where Mahiru died, considering we never saw her leave that area, but the person she was with did so I have every reason to believe Hiyoko died second. Therefore, due to Monokuma's rules and how they work, looking at Hiyoko's death is a waste of time."

I got two shaky nods from the people I called out, proving my point. "Even so, wouldn't it be possible for Hiyoko to leave before Mahiru died, if that were to be the case, then there's a chance that Hiyoko did die first and therefore we have to also take her death into account." 

"Nah, doesn't seem possible. Only Hajime was needed for the body announcement, right? Besides we would have seen or at least heard more people coming out from that area since there's no way in there besides from the top of the beach." Kazuichi countered Peko's point for me which is a nice change of pace.

"So then, four people have seen the body, who else could have done so?"

"If you ask me, they used some forbidden arts to teleport in and out of the building to see this body." After Nekomaru came Gundham and his brand of crazy.

"What does it matter who saw the goddamn corpse, what matters is who killed her!"

"Yes, but wouldn't it be helpful to narrow things down enough so then we can make more logical choices?" 

"Maybe Hiyoko was the last one to see the body?"

While Fuyuhiko and Sonia gave their pieces, Akane was the one who caught my ear. "Hey Akane, mind explaining what you mean by that?"

"Well it's pretty obvious right? You guys would need to see the others and if Hajime saw the body by himself then outside of Hiyoko, who was the last one seen, there needs to be two others who went inside the bathhouse, the blackened and a witness."

"Maybe not. Wouldn't it be entirely possible for Hiyoko to be the killer even so?” In a surprising amount of dim-witnesses, Peko spoke up with an argument that was flimsy at best.

“Well, apart from the fact that it means that other people must have followed me to activate the three body rule for ourselves, which Nekomaru and everyone at the diner can attest to NOT happening, it also means that three people found the body at the same time as me, which I can assure you DID NOT happen, because otherwise one of us would had told the others what was going down, but nobody knew about Mahiru’s death until you all saw her for yourselves. There’s no way Hiyoko could be Mahiru’s killer, end of story.” My explanation caused Peko to fall silent, with a bit of sweat coming off her forehead, but can’t explain for the life of me why that would be.

“Well, OK. But now that we’ve got two of the people who must have seen the body, who would have business or a motive to go find them, and don’t have an abili?” Nekomaru spoke up again, and I wonder what could be done about his question. 

“What about Ibuki, she could have seen Mahiru at some point. She was going around asking the girls to join in on the party.” 

"Actually Ibuki did that before the meeting, but Mahiru said she had somewhere to go…"

"Seems pretty damn suspicious to me, she has no alibi!" Nagito spoke up and Fuyuhiko spoke up even louder after Ibuki's awkward confession. 

Still, could Ibuki be the killer in this situation? "Hey, hey. Hajime, could you give us a rundown of what happened this afternoon, until you found the body?" Chiaki spoke up, with confusion in her voice. 

I'm a little confused at this myself, but I trust her. "Alright, me and Kazuichi met up to go to dinner, for food, and before we got there we saw Fuyuhiko sulking around. Then we got to Ibuki, and we talked. While this was going on we saw Hiyoko run out of the beach in some sort of panic. Then Akane came here, as did Chiaki, which was then I ran out to the beach house where Peko talked to me, but before I left, a voice popped up in my head telling me to check it and that's when I saw Mahiru's body." Everyone was processing this information in their own way.

"H-How can we goddamn trust you? You could have done it and hidden the information!" 

"No, he couldn't have. He was the only one at Mahiru's location for a time, during which the alarm went off." Nekomaru had to remind Fuyuhiko of the obvious, which feels rather annoying, since I swear we've gone over this multiple times.

My attention was focused on Chiaki, who looks like she's done with her processing. "Hajime? Where did Peko come from?" Peko didn't seem to react despite being put on the hot-seat. 

But where did she come from? "The sea, right?"

Chiaki shook her head. "Then why aren't there wet foot prints going out to sea?" Wait… 

The courthouse was now in a state of shock. Where did Peko come from and why was she wet through?

Peko remained calm however. "I simply came up from the beach in a different location." 

"Well then you come from behind?" Sonia spoke up, causing an predictable outburst.

Before anything could happen, I slammed my fist onto the podium, getting everyone's attention. "Please be mature for once. What she clearly means is 'why did Peko even approach me from the back.' Wouldn't it be easier to just come out from the sea at the beach house, because it's so close to the diner?" Sonia gave a polite nod in my direction.

Peko then gave another retort. "Well, I simply grew tired and for my own safety I got out of the sea at the nearest location to where I was, which explains that situation." 

"Wait, but then why did you head straight to Hajime, instead of coming to us? Also, why didn't any of us notice you walking down to the beach house?" Kazuichi spoke up this time, but then another slam was heard.

"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!" 

"H-Huh?"

"Listen, if you morons want to take a wrong turn and die, don't drag me into this shit!"

"Wait, why are you being so defensive of Peko anyway?"

"Shut up! My life's important and I'm not going to let you fucking kill me!" If it's a battle he's wanting, then I suppose I just have to serve. 

" Alright, your argument is stupid!   
The shower’s goddamn broken…   
And the sea is right there…   
Plus there’s no other way to get wet!   
So just back off!”

Fuyuhiko's argument is definitely flawed, I can see it right here! "I'm going to cut you down to size!" Everyone was once again frozen by my yell, which I'm going to use to my advantage. "You saw there's no other way for Peko to get wet, but you're wrong. The water bottles in the bin would survive enough for a shower if you wanted to get wet." Fuyuhiko's panic increased tenfold at this point, but he doesn't matter.

I turned to Peko, glaring at her. "Did you-"

"I KILLED THE MORON!" We all darted over to Fuyuhiko in shock, especially the accused. 

"W-What? You're lying!" 

Peko questioning this is confusing enough, but the fact that Fuyuhiko looks serious is just annoying. "Just do whatever you do to start voting, there's no point in being afraid of the invatable. The musical disaster over there early saw me leaving the bathhouse, so I'm a likely candidate for being the killer, plus I have a motive and everyone hates me, so bam!" 

"Wait, what! Fuyuhiko, please do not be so rash! There isn't a point throwing your life away like this!" 

Akane then gave a raised brow in confusion. "Yeah, what could an arcade machine do to give anyone a motive anyway?" Her voice is genuine and that's scary.

A scream came from Fuyuhiko and he raised his knuckles as if he could do anything to stop us. "It's none of your damn business!"

"So it is our business then, since you seem keen to hide it."

"It seems your trickery has failed you demon of hell!" Kazuichi and Gundham, then spoke up both in confidence and knowing that they have the upper hand here.

"Maybe he just hates video games?" 

"Wait so is Chiaki in danger?" 

"It's due to the reward from the game…" Chiaki didn’t share Ibuki’s concern, which is good since I need someone here who I can trust and knows about all of this.

"Is it yummy?" 

While I wanted to call out Akane for being an idiot, Chiaki's got the correct answer, we both know that. "Chiaki's right, the motive had three pictures as a reward."

"You told us not to touch those things, while you did so yourself?" Byakuya gave me a tense stare, which I repaid in kind.

"One of those pictures had Ibuki, Hiyoko and Mikan in them, with the implication Mahiru somehow took them. It was the right choice not to reveal that information."

"The right call Hajime? I don't know, three out of four of the girls are deceased." Nagito spoke up while I was staring at Byakuya, catching me slightly off guard.

I whipped around to the voice. "Mikan died because of you!"

"And what about the other two? If you had told your friends, then maybe they'd think of a plan to keep an eye on them." All I could respond with was a glare to Nagito. 

"Chiaki! Do you mind telling us about the motive, and the "reward" that came with it?"  Ibuki was beginning to sing her words out, which caught everyone's attention.

"Sure. To not waste much time, it's implied to be the murder of a girl, where the four girls where apart of it, including an unnamed fifth. That fifth girl was the murderer and was killed herself by Guy F, who was also there, but it was highly implied that Mahiru was involved with covering up for that girl." 

"So? What the hell would any of that have to do with me?" Fuyuhiko spoke up, causing the class to wonder themselves. What would that have to do with any of us, even if the girls were supposedly a part of it.

"Well, maybe one of the murder victims was related to him?" Me and Chiaki froze at Akane's words. "I mean, it's not like he has any motive otherwise. Plus considering it's Guy F, he does have an F in his name."

One of the murder victims being related to him? "Shut up! You know nothing about me!"

"Wait, there was Girl F and Guy F."

"Both of them had blond hair and were representation of people with the last name of K…"

"Shut your months right now!"

"Fuyuhiko's sister was murdered in that video game, and the photo used makes it look like a real life event!" While Fuyuhiko tried to stop us, me and Chiaki ended up spelling everything out for the class.

"So, do we take this as fact?"

"Of course not! It's stupid!" Nekomaru was somehow louder than Fuyuhiko when they both spoke, despite the latter trying to be louder.

"If we wanted to know the truth, we would have to learn it from the source. Do either of you have proof of these pictures?" Peko then spoke up, calm.

Fuyuhiko is now smirking. Strange, considering he's making himself the prime suspect. I simply looked over to Chiaki. "Hajime was stressing out about the pictures, so I offered to keep them safe, but I was attacked during the night." She lifted her shirt to reveal the injury she got.

"W-What? Well, it's your damn fault for being alone at night! What would have happened if it was fatal! We'd be here with three fucking dead chicks!"

"Regardless, this means that it was stolen?" Chiaki nodded to Peko's question. "So then, either we trust their word or just drop this and focus on other things."

"Okay! Hands up in the air if you want to trust Hajime and Chiaki!" In a surprising twist, nearly everyone threw their hands in the air. "BOOM! Hajime and Chiaki are telling the truth and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"That's not how fucking court works you wacko!"

"Sure, but don't bother wasting more time trying to deflect the argument. Hajime has no reason to lie and the evidence and your confession to being the murder all adds up to it working out." Nekomaru remained calm as Fuyuhiko gritted his teeth, in some sort of frustration.

"Now tell us, before I send you to the underworld, are those claims about the pictures the truth?"

That quiet voice came from Gundham and in response, Fuyuhiko slammed on the podium. "For the love of all that is holy, stop slamming on my podiums! Seriously don't want you kids wasting a precious life down here when there could be another trial for you to have fun with!"

"W-What, is that all you care about!"

"What? Of course not, those podiums cost a lot of money and they're fitted with the most anti-programmer/hacker programs in the world! They'd go for millions if they weren't so important!"

"And now all you're thinking about is money?"

"Of course not! You're worth nothing, I'd have to pay to get rid of you, but you're my little sister so I could never part with you. Unless it was to repay for those podiums."

The over-animated plush toys and their argument took a toll on Fuyuhiko, who's looking tired. "For the love of god, if those two bears weren't freakishly powerful, I'd cut them into so many pieces…"

"Ignore those worthless piles of junk and get on with it."

"Yeah, get on with it you worthless pile of junk and shut up Monomi, you worthless and harmful pile of junk!" I think I heard sobbing, although nobody was visibly upset. Maybe apart from Monomi.

"Fine, whatever, I'm going to die soon anyway. Yep, the first girl who was murdered and the person whose death was covered up by the dead asshole. She’s my sister, so I got my revenge on Mahiru. There said and done, now get on with it.” 

I can feel my anger boiling up inside me, but why is he protecting someone… Someone in particular. “You can not be the killer.” 

“...What? You’re not serious, right? Come on, what could possibly make me not the killer.”

“Oh, maybe it’s because he’s not wet?” 

“What, why would I need to be wet to kill someone?”

“Well, maybe you just wanted to wash off the evidence.”

“What? No, I wouldn’t need to do that, because that would be stupid!"

“Well, there could be something there that you couldn’t possibly know about...”

“What, you’d think I’d be dumb enough to leave evidence behind like that?” 

“Considering you’re owning up to being the killer, I’d say so.” 

This was all just a bunch of Fuyuhiko trying to counter points which came from Sonia, Ibuki, Nagito and then Akane, although one answer interested me.

“Actually, I think Nagito’s right here. There’s something there that really doesn’t make sense unless you know something very specific.” 

Then a smirk. “Oh, really? I see how it is, you’re getting desperate to try and prove I’m a fucking moron, well too bad for you, not going to work on me, I’m too smart for that shit.”

“Well, do you know what’s important about that mask?” 

Then a chuckle. “Well, it’s to divert you morons from the truth, that’s all. Besides, what kind of moron would even own a mask like that.” 

I then turned to Byakuya. “Hey, yesterday, in the Library, Sonia was discussing something right? You know that mask, can you tell me what Sonia said about it.” 

After a second of processing, he got a confident smile. “I see where this is going. Very well Hajime, I shall indulge you. Before you and Mahiru got there, she was talking about one serial killer, known as Sparkling Justice, who wore a mask just like that one.”

“Oh, and who was there with you guys? I can’t really tell these things unfortunately.” Nagito perked up, with a voice that either reeked of creepiness or sarcasm, which I’m not sure how he managed to do that.

The smirk grew larger. “Me, Sonia, Gundham and… Peko. I can tell you, that everyone there can back me up."

Now it was Fuyuhiko’s turn to sweat. “Hold on, t-that doesn’t mean anything. Besides, how would she get out of the bathhouse without coming through the way that Hajime came out of?” 

“Well, maybe if she was carrying a tough tool that could be brought up with her to use as a stepping stone, she could easily do it. She is one of the most athletic people here after all.” 

“Would you be talking about my sword Nagito?” Nagito nodded to which Peko sighed at his answer. “I suppose there is no point beating around the bush.”

“Don’t you dare do it Peko!” 

“I’m sorry Master… But I’m the one who killed Mahiru. Indeed, his reasoning for wanting Mahiru dead is why I killed her.”

“Peko, that’s not-” 

“What…” Even though my voice was quiet, it managed to grab everyone’s attention, causing them all to turn to me. “The hell is wrong with you!” A yell pierced through the newly bought silence in the room, coming from a place of burning rage and sorrow. “So what you two did is collaborated on a murder on someone because you think that they might have something to do with a potental murder, not even directly and the source is pretty damn vague about everything by the way that the victim wouldn’t even logically know about! Hell, why not ask Ibuki. ‘Hey Ibuki, do you remember spending any time with Mahiru, Hiyoko and Mikan inside a school while you were complete morons and decided not to report a goddamn murder because you were all too scared to become suspects?’' Ibuki was about to answer, but I’m not giving her the chance. “Of course not! Nobody remembers spending any time together, we’ve just met each other and while most people would realise that and think ‘Hrmm, maybe the bear that wants to kill us and set up this whole thing might be lying?’ Nope, just assume that she did it and then throw a temper tantrum like the child that you are, causing at least one innocent person to get murdered.”

“HOW DARE YOU FUCKING SAY THAT TO ME!” A scream came out of Fuyuhiko, which is something I’m not going to let him do. 

“HOW DARE YOU KILL SOMEONE FOR NO GOOD REASON! Oh and let’s not forget that you or your lackey attacked Chiaki, someone completely innocent here. You’ve been nothing but an asshole this entire time because you’re just scared, scared that if you open up, you’ll get hurt or worse, someone you actually care about will get hurt or killed and you’ll have to live with the suffering.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” This response was quiet, a contrast to how he’d usually react to something like this, surprisingly how quickly the mighty can fall.

“Here’s a better idea, how about we get everyone up to speed with what happened, because I think that will be fun. Here’s what happened. Monokuma introduced a motive for us to kill each other. To make sure what the details were and who could have been in danger, me and Chiaki took a look at it and learnt about it. We decided to open up the file, just to make sure and after that she said to look after the file and like the moron I was, I agreed to it therefore putting her in danger, which then did occur due to her being attacked. The next morning Mahiru and Hiyoko went out to have a nice time, where Hiyoko was somehow knocked out, most likely with the chloroform and then something happened with Mahiru and Fuyuhiko which caused Peko to kill Mahiru. After all that went down, Fuyuhiko left the scene and Peko cleaned up until Hiyoko woke up and ran off, likely in a panic from coming out of the closet to see someone dead. After a couple of minutes, Peko was able to get out of the room and wash the blood off herself with the water bottles in the area, but made one fatal error, she came to see me first, therefore cementing herself as the murderer. Hiyoko was then later murdered by someone else and that’s how the case happened, with the killer being Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. There’s the case wrapped up in a nice bow, if anyone has any objections, speak up now, not that’ll change anything.”

“OBJECTION!” Before I could catch my breath, everyone’s attention was drawn to Ibuki Mioda, who was currently pointing her finger at me and yelling out with a smile.

I then sighed. “Ibuki, did you just want to make that reference?” 

Then a bit of sweat ran down her brow. “W-Well, yeah. But also no! I have a few questions about this whole thing. First of all, why would Peko admit to murder like that? I mean, we’ve got her pinned down at this point but wouldn’t you think she’d put up some sort of fight?” 

We all looked at Peko. “Well, as I said there’s no point in beating around the bush. You’ve got me figured out so I see no point in resisting.” 

“Second question. Why would you help Fuyuhiko, he’s kind of a jerk.” 

“Hey!” Fuyuhiko yelled this out after Ibuki’s slightly chipper tone of voice, which feels inappropriate. 

Peko then looked uncomfortable for a few seconds. “Well, simply put, we’ve known each other before we came into the school. So I didn’t want to see someone I know get executed.” 

This somehow made Fuyuhiko more upset. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! My mistakes are mine alone to bear.” 

“OK, another question. The timeline of this doesn’t make much sense. So Fuyuhiko walked out, then Hiyoko walked out right, before you did, but if you cleaned up, then why did it take you as long as you did to get out? Couldn’t you just use the door instead of climbing out of the window?” 

“Well, because I didn’t want people to see the body right away, so I locked the door from the inside and went out through the window. It took me a couple of tries, but eventually I managed to get out. I also didn’t start cleaning until Hiyoko was out of the building, so Hajime was incorrect on that front.” I didn’t respond to Peko’s correction. 

Ibuki then had a mock thinking expression on her face. “Interesting, interesting. OK, Ibuki has one more question. Why did you prick Mahiru?” 

Both Peko and Fuyuhiko were confused at the question. “Huh, she was pricked?” 

Now everyone’s confused, just like those two. “What, of course she was. It’s right there on her neck.” 

“Huh, I thought you guys did that. There’s no possible way for it to happen otherwise.” 

“Also, shouldn’t a hit to the head be like, an instant kill or knockout, you know, without a trial of blood?” Byakuya, Chiaki and Akane all were confused, which feels like an understatement. 

Still, I need to think about this more. “Isn’t it possible that they simply tried to poison her, to make sure she was dead?” 

Peko then shook her head at Gundham’s question. “No, the hit should have killed her. That’s what I assumed, besides I do not know what type of poison would even be used.” 

“45S-PA1R, it was one of three things taken from the pharmacy, along with chloroform and a relaxer known as Tetrodotoxin B.” 

“What did you say?” I turned over to Sonia, who now looked incredibly shocked at my answer.

“Sonia, do you know something about those things?” 

Sonia looks a bit uncomfortable but after a second, nodded. “Yes, but I do not know how it got here. 45S-PA1R is an experimental drug, in early stages of development at the Novoselic War division, commissioned by an unknown party. It’s effects were supposed to be lethal, where once injected it caused the victim’s left side to turn purple thanks to the poison, and a side effect of it caused the victim’s eye to appear red. The relaxer on the other hand reduces the heart rate of a person to one beat per minute, which is supposed to help relax people who have both anger issues and heart problems.” 

“Sonia, you do what!” 

“Wow, not only are you the Ultimate Princess, you also know so much about your country, what a beautiful display!” Nagito and Kazuichi were both shocked but while the former was happy, the latter was shocked to the core.

Yet, despite all this, I found myself on the snowboard once again. Is there something I need to figure out… “Was Mahiru injected with something?” Of course, we proved that already. The glass and missing tools proved that. “What was she injected with?” Maybe the poison? But why try to poison someone who’s dead? Plus she’s showing no signs of being poisoned, so it would likely be a waste to use it. “Why was there a trial of blood?” She was dragged? I-I’m not sure. Why would she need to be dragged though? Peko locked the door, and she was dragged to the middle of the room. “Is Mahiru Alive?”

…

“Hey, Hajime? You’re crying…” I was snapped out of my funk by Chiaki, but now I noticed that indeed, as she says, I’m sobbing. 

My heart is going as fast as a race car and my legs are quivering like a baby chick on ice. I know what I have to say, what I need to do, but I'm scared. "I think there's a chance that Mahiru isn't dead…" 

The looks I received were telling, they all think that I'm crazy, right…? "Haha, it seems that even when the despair of losing a friend is totally covered, you see a tiny glimmer of hope and run towards it, without care. How inspiring!" Nagito's sounding as nuts as usual, but I guess I'm the crazy one here.

"Oh, so what was that speech about moron! If it's true, then I'm going to pay you back with interest."

"Attempted murder is still a crime, so I believe the speech hasn't lost it's meaning. You still attempted to kill someone, remember? But I'm getting off track. I have reason to believe that Mahiru isn't dead."

A slamming noise came from the top podium, with Monokuma being the source of the noise. "What! Explain yourself right now!"

I took a shaky breath, before talking. "The trial of blood means the body was moved, but nobody could have reasonably done it, Peko simply locked the back door but she could have used Mahiru's body to block it, right? Another thing is that she was pricked, right? Sure it could have been the poison, but what if it was the relaxer? Then maybe the body announcement was wrong. It explains the body's position and the way it was posed, right?" 

"Pause the trial for a minute." Monokuma disappeared for exactly 60 seconds, before appearing again. "Well, whatever happens, happens. Is she dead, is she alive? Makes this trial all the more interesting to me.” 

"Hmph, this is all wasting time. It’s impossible for someone to pretend to be dead.”

“Well, there’s no point in not looking into it. Besides, if we look into it and it turns out to be right, then we’d be glad we did.” 

“Oh wow wow wow, this is another scrum debate, for me? You’re all too kind, let’s get this gig going!” Suddenly the screen turned into “Mahiru lives” or “Mahiru dies” and even if it may be idiotic of me to believe this, I have to hope. I pressed the left button as it was all over and done with soon enough, lifting the class up to the top.

The teams were Chiaki, Ibuki, Sonia, Nekomaru and Fuyuhiko? Well at least that confirms that Peko was the killer and who we vote for if I'm wrong... On the other side stood Peko, Akane, Nagito, Gundham, Byakuya and Kazuichi. I suppose this makes for an interesting matchup. 

"Listen, as much as I want to believe Mahiru isn't dead, are we sure Hajime is a good source?"

"Hajime was the first to see it after the body announcement, he wouldn't lie about this." Nekomaru spoke up after Kazuichi sounded worried about it all, which is good for me.

"Even so, we should not waste time chasing a potentially false lead. I am the killer."

I heard a grunt from the side of me, clearly Fuyuhiko isn't pleased about that. "Damnit, just use your head for one second! There's a chance all of us could die!"

"Hmph, it is entirely possible the poison was used on her to make sure she stayed dead."

"Maybe… but we should make sure first." Byakuya was countered by Chiaki.

"We can not be totally sure if the maiden lives, what is the course of action there."

"I suppose we would have to vote for both and hope for the best." Gundham's point was counted by Sonia and it seems the deed is done since the podiums came down.

"Alright, let's look for any suspicious things about Hiyoko's killing." There were nods throughout the whole area. 

“Well, maybe there’s something in the pool?” 

“There is very little evidence on display, nothing that could link anything with anyone.” 

“That’s impossible, what kind of person would have the time to do that in the open!” 

“Well, with a little luck, anything’s possible.” 

“Yeah, like planning an entire murder, asshole.” 

“You’re not helping your case Fuyuhiko.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, jerk!”

Chiaki, Gundham, Akane, Nagito, Fuyuhiko and then Nekomaru (followed by a Fuyuhiko bark) all threw out their ideas, remaining somewhat calm although there’s one thing that I think should be addressed within this set of responses. “Actually Gundham, I think there might be a few pieces of evidence that might point to someone. Or at least there’s a chance. That meat on her body confuses me, since it’s so small.” 

“Hajime, I didn’t know you liked girls like that!” Ibuki spoke up but I just looked at her. What does that even mean.... That sounds dirty. 

“I’m not even going to think about that one. What I mean is that she was carrying some sort of meat in her pockets."

"Oh, you mean that bit of meat. Man, you know it smelt good if nothing else."

"She carried those little bears from hell too, right? It is likely those two things had the exact same purpose." Akane and then Gundham replied to me, but out of context and even in this context that line is a little confusing. 

“So you mean Hiyoko planned on eating that? That couldn’t even be considered a snack, it was that tiny. Although maybe for your little critters, I guess it could be considered something like that.”

“Preposterous! My hamsters would never eat something like that, they are herbivores!” 

“Actually, hamsters are regularly omnivores.” While Akane and Gundham continued their little conversation, with Akane not reacting much while Gundham was getting a little upset, however nobody expected Monomi to speak up, nor did we expect her to correct Gundham on animal facts. 

The next few seconds were full of awkward silence. “Even if that rabbit look-alike corrected my feeble mistake, what does it matter?” While he does raise a good point, it seems a little weird that he’d mess up like that. 

I’m going to pursue this lead. I think it could lead to something. Hold on, there’s something else that’s confusing me. “About your hamsters, where are they? I haven’t seen them since the beginning of the day.”

“Hmph, the Four Divas of Destruction are simply resting. But more importantly, why was Hiyoko carrying around the poison?” His response was calm and serious, but it did cause a murmur to go off within the classroom.    
Why did she take the poison? “Maybe she didn’t take the poison and someone else did?” 

“Who could have taken it though?” 

“Well, what about someone trying to poison Mahiru?”

“No, Fuyuhiko was never seen going back to the area where she died and I didn’t know.” 

“Perhaps it could have something to do with the disappearance of the hamsters?”   
“OK, let’s ignore that one since it came from him.” 

Sonia, Nekomaru, Akane, Peko, Nagito and then Fuyuhiko all spoke up, remaining mostly collected although there’s one thing that caught my ear. I let out a sigh before doing so, just out of regret for my future actions.” No, I think Nagito might be right here. What other motive could anyone have of taking them. We’ve proved that Mahiru is likely not poisoned, right? Their disappearance is also a questionable point.” 

“Hmph, I shall free this demon from your mind!” Before I could finish talking, Gundham yelled out this threat, or promise? I can’t tell which one to be honest. “It is entirely possible that Mahiru was poisoned however she was already dead.” 

“Stop trying to dodge the question. We already have a plan for Peko! Just answer the question.” 

“Tell me, is there any proof that anything was killed with that poison? Both murders both outright disprove that the poison was used, true?” Despite my shouting, he remained calm. He’s not wrong, both murders point to the fact that the poison wasn’t used, but is there anything to prove something is up?

“I won’t describe the details yet, but let’s just say that this might be more than just a double murder.” Nagito’s voice suddenly rang out in my head… That’s it!

I pointed right at Nagito and began to yell. “Nagito! You said it might be more than a double murder, right? Plus you’ve been withholding evidence this entire time, so now reveal it!” 

Nagito then gave a lighter chuckle than his insane ones, but certainly not one that could be considered in any way normal. “Amazing, you actually remembered what I said, honestly I’m thankful you even listened to someone as pathetic as me!” He reached into his pocket to show off the poison and the needle. “Well, to tell you the truth, I found these buried with something else.” 

“Hmph, it seems this trial is over and done with then. What was it buried with.” The largest man spoke up, but in a rare sight, Nagito got uncomfortable, which in turn caused everyone else to become uncomfortable. 

“Whatever Nagito found, it clearly wasn’t a pretty sight… Hey Gundham, I know this has been asked before, but where are your hamsters. You brought them into the last trial, I saw them myself.” 

Gundham was about to open his mouth, but another voice started to speak. “Please, I’m worried about them…” Sonia was the one to speak, and with a defeated look, he made a pose, showing off three hamsters, but they were all clearly saddened. 

Nagito simply nodded and we all knew what was going on. “So that’s it then. Gundham, what happened?” 

“His life was taken by that demon, I’m sure of it.” 

Gundham then sighed and I could only sigh myself. “Alright then. Who wants to round it off this time?” After a second, I realised there were going to be no takers. “Why does this always land to me? Alright, let’s get on with it. We don’t know much about the case, but it’s likely that Hiyoko was knocked out before Mahiru died and woke up afterwards. After that she left the scene of the crime, to grab some poison. Using the meat she got from somewhere, she lured one of Gundham’s hamsters to her location and then injected it with poison, likely leading to its death. I guess Gundham saw this and attacked Hiyoko on instinct, before he could rationalise the situation. Then, either to get rid of the body or just in a panic, he carried her to the pool and left the scene. That’s where everyone saw the body at least? I hope I’m not missing anything, but there doesn’t seem to be too much else going on with the crime.” There were nods around the class. So that’s it then. 

Byakuya however was lowering his eyes in frustration. “We have two killers, so how on earth do we plan to vote for both of them? We have an odd number to start off with, which doesn’t help matters.” 

“Nekomaru, you take hold of Peko, don’t let her choose. Akane, you do the same with Gundham. Then me, Fuyuhiko, Byakuya, Ibuki and Nagito shall all vote for Gundham. Hajime, you vote for Peko then go and press the other four for Peko. Sonia, you have to vote for somebody random, but it can’t be either of those two, OK? Monokuma, we’re ready to vote.” Chiaki took complete charge and before any of us could object, a recognisable laugh echoed throughout the room. 

“BWAHAHAHA, feeling confident are we? Well, let’s see if you twerps are right or not. IT’S VOTING TIME!” While Peko was desperately trying to escape Nekomaru’s grip, I had to run and hit Peko’s face on 5 of the screens, which I barely made it in time, however the deed was done quickly enough. “Took you all long enough, seriously if he was any slower, you’d all be doomed!” Nobody paid mind to the wicked beast as we all stared at the spinning, waiting to see who’s life would be taken on this day. 

Eventually it landed on Gundham and I felt a sigh of relief escape my mouth, to which I covered it in shock. “Unfortunately, the red-headed step child is still alive. Thank goodness that another murder took place, otherwise I don’t know what I would even do. So yes, the wanna-be ninja with an animal fetish is our killer of the day.”

“Why did Hiyoko kill your hamster though, Gundham?” Chiaki’s question wasn’t given a response, so he likely doesn’t know. 

Byakuya however made an audible sound. “Hmph, why did you-” While what he’s about to say might not be bad, he’s not the right time. I simply placed a finger on his mouth and let Sonia handle this, as she was currently in a quiet conversation with him. 

“I’ll keep them safe.” Sonia said this slightly louder, so we could all hear her.

Nobody really knew what to say, so Monokuma spoke up. “Well, keeping this short are we? Well works for me lovies, let’s get this on the road! IT’S EXECUTION TIME!” Gundham walked over to the execution chamber, which led to the door closing and us being forced to walk into a room that just opened up. 

Nobody had a major issue getting into the room, although Chiaki was helping Sonia walk over there, as Sonia was trying to get the hamsters under control. Even so, the room once again lit up with a view of Gundham, trapped in a weird landscape, all tinted yellow. Something was clearly off, as there was a pool of green stuff in front of him, although I can’t tell if it’s solid or not. Monokuma appeared in front of Gundham and gave his usual laugh, before a screen came down. 

The Legerdemain Beast and the Legendary Creature. Execution of Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Animal Breeder!

Monokuma then poked the ground, causing it to rumble. As the ground rose up, it became clear to all involved that the green matter on the floor was in fact a creature. As it rose from the ground, we were all able to see it’s face, it was clear to us that it had Monokuma’s slasher smile and eyes, from the blackside of it. Strangely enough, Gundham didn’t seem scared of it, instead just staring at it, silently. 

Suddenly, the monster lashed out, which Gundham dodged, although it was definitely a close one. Another attack, dodged swiftly. While the monster was strong, it was also slow thanks to it’s huge mass, enough for dodging to not be a problem. When the monster had tried itself out a bit, Gundham used this as a time to strike, leaping on the back. 

The monster threw itself from side to side, trying desperately to throw the animal breeder off, yet nothing really happened for it. This only served to make it more tried, which allowed Gundham to calm it down somewhat. 

Monokuma saw this and was upset, grabbing a rock and throwing it at the monster from his chair… that he was sitting on for some reason. It went from relaxed to insane at a moments notice, flinging Gundham around, with the latter gripping on. In his eyes, he knew it was pointless, yet he didn’t stop the fight. 

However, time caught up with him as he could no longer hold on, leading him to go soaring into a wall, where the monster charged into him at full force, crushing him without mercy. 

Monokuma then lept on the beast and started riding it like a cowboy, as the screen turned to darkness. 

Without a word, we all just walked back into the trial room, and I just walked into the elevator. “So, err, what’s going to happen to Mahiru, since she got hurt…” 

“Well, she’s in hospital right now, she’ll come out, eventually. Or just die in there, who knows. Prefer it if she didn’t, then that’d be one less possible murder.” The two bears talked over the silence, not really helping the situation. “Seriously, you’re just going to walk away? After throwing that fit over everything? All bark and no bite this one is.” Once again, I didn’t respond, only waiting for the elevator to go up. 

Sure, Mahiru isn’t dead, but I feel so drained. Two other people just died. I’ll decide what I want to do with myself later, after a nice long sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly most of this was completed for the whole time, but I suddenly lost motivation just before writing the execution, which has two refences by the by, wonder if anyone can guess them. I think one is obvious while the other is less so.  
> Let's get the first cat out of this bag, Hajime. Yeah, I did write him to be way more aggressive than he usually is. Remember, he's usually someone who talks smack (for lack of a better word) a lot inside his head, give him a situation where he's going to be extremely upset and I think it's not too much of a leap of faith. I may have gone too far in a few places, though.   
> Anyway, of course Mahiru isn't dead. I dislike bait and switch when it comes to things like this, sure it's obvious, but twists shouldn't make the story in my eyes. Well, that's less accurate than saying "I prefer a good story over ones with a twist" and since my stories aren't good, I can't bog it down with a twist as well.  
> "Well, why try to trick us then?" Well, I had to make it somewhat convincing in a way for character development. While I'm not a huge fan of the 'Character majorly changes after a important event' trope, I get why it's there. It helps with emotional beats and forces Hajime to react, since he's a character who always reacts to things, at least in this story. He's dragged around a lot more, which is why I need him to react by changing somewhat, by either getting courage or just outright realising his feelings, since at this point it's pretty obvious that he likes her but doesn't realise it himself.   
> I'm not a fan of the "will they or won't they" nor am I a fan of the "drama because of dumb thing" but it's a required evil in this case. I should stop with the talking about things that I clearly have no idea what I'm going on about.   
> Anyway Gundham Tanaka. I really like his character, but I have no idea how to write him! Like, seriously he's so difficult to write that I'm not sure if I did him justice here. I felt that it was for the best to take him out before things got worse. OK, that's not the full reason, another reason is that I'm not a fan of the sub plot that revolves around Sonia, Gundham and Kazuichi, since while it gives them something to do, it transforms Kazuichi from slightly, too really obsessed. Plus it came just a little too late, would had been better to do this during chapter 3, where all of them weren't affected by the virus and stuff like that.   
> Anyway, while I do joke around, I'm super sorry for the delay. I really want to get back into doing anything, so I'll have to gradually get back into writing more, it's a start that I can use, right? Now if you'll excuse, it's 2:22am at night and I really feel like committing sleep. Catch you later!


End file.
